Can we imagine Gordon Hempton as a recurring UNIVERSAL EAR silence-hunter character? A kind of anti-John Cage (who we know to have been a good friend of Byrne), absurdly undermining his own quest by creating sounds in silent places - by the beat of his heart, the vibration-translating mechanics of his ears*, and a neurotic, hyper-listening, over-critical listening mind which conjures up imaginary sounds that lesser-listeners can't hear ("I'm sure I hear a ticking sound... can't you? Listen! No?")?
He and the dolt Byrne would make a fine odd couple. Byrne enthusiastically (noisily) cheering Hempton on whenever he tries to record the silence.
*his ultimate (perhaps only, looping) mission: to record the silence of a tree falling in a forest with no-one around to hear it.
http://audiblerange.com/…/the-scramble-to-preserve-the-wor…/
http://soundtracker.com/