“The Chess Game”  is the title of  the Anna Boghiguian  installation that is actually on display in Venice as part of the Kunsthaus Bregenz exhibition.

On her  large-scale  installation, Anna Boghiguian had included on a large chess table some representation of some Austrian historical personalities. So, the chess pieces had been transformed into figures of historical personalities, made by assembling paper and wood. 

All the figures represented are of Austrian origins.

Indeed, they are the   figures  that  easily come to everyone’s mind when thinking about Austria. 

They are those who had played the highest game. 

Exactly like a chess game and not “the language game” as Wittgenstein  had elaborate.  If you did get yet, Wittgenstein  is one of the figures included. 

The others, thirteen, are politicians, scientists and members of royal families. 

Observing  the “pantheon” of figures created by Anna Boghiguian installation reminded me of a book entitled ” The power elite” written by C. Wright Mills.

In  Mills’ book, as in the Boghiguian installation,  what emerges is a picture of figures that  play or somehow are able  to influence  a society or a country on its different spheres.

It happens that often the role or influence  played by those figures or members of the elite, to use Mills words,  was an unintended result of their actions. 

While going around the Boghiguian installation I started to imagine, “in a silent way”,  how it could have looked like if other Austrian personalities could have been included on it.

One figure that comes to my mind was the one of the composer and pianist  Joe Zawinul.

He was Austrian as those included and according to his memories, he wrote the song entitled “in a silent way” walking in the Vienna streets after the second world war.

But everyone knows that the selection was made by following a method, as Wittgenstein, one of those included on the installation, has suggested in his writings.

However, beyond the figures included or excluded, it seems that no matter the  the dimension of the chess table, the checkmate always arrives “in a silent way”.

Here you may listen to the Joe Zawinul tune ” in a Silent way.”

Why not try to listen to it while reading this brief review of Anna Boghiguian?