Why emptiness and silence frighten us during quarantine

The COVID-19 quarantine has imposed a pervasive emptiness and silence that many find terrifying. This article explores how artists have historically engaged with these concepts. The horror vacui tradition, from ancient Greek kosmos and chaos through medieval, Gothic, Baroque, and Pop Art, reflects a fear of emptiness that drives visual saturation. Yves Klein's "Leap into the Void" embodies a concrete absence, while his saturated blue questions how much silence exists within fullness. Kazimir Malevich's "White on White" presents a simultaneous presence of emptiness and fullness. Anish Kapoor's Vantablack absorbs light and reality, creating an apparent black hole that hides but does not erase. John Cage's 4'33" has expanded into weeks of enforced silence. The article asks whether we can recognize our fullness and emptiness without drowning them in compulsive information and chatter.