Point of Contact 2001 On Silence

This issue of Point of Contact brings together writing and visual art that examine the body, sport, masculinity, memory, and cultural ritual as sites of meaning and tension. Framed by a visual and conceptual homage to avant-garde composer and philosopher John Cage, the cover’s bold, childlike face—rendered in crayon-like strokes and marked with handwritten references to “John Cage in 1958”—signals an attention to perception, restraint, and the expressive power of what is left unsaid.

Inside, essays, conversations, poetry, and visual works move across disciplines and geographies: from baseball, wrestling, and basketball to Indigenous lacrosse, Caribbean sport, and intimate family dialogues. Contributors explore sound and silence, physical presence and absence, media spectacle, memory, and the politics of the body, often through conversation-based formats that foreground listening as much as speaking.

Sponsored by Syracuse University, this edition reflects Cage’s enduring influence not by literal silence alone, but by encouraging readers to attend closely—to voices, pauses, gestures, and the spaces between words—where meaning quietly takes shape.

This digital version of the original Point of Contact edition is accessible in digital format here, or in print, available for purchase through Punto Shop.