magdalena hill

Laughing tracks

audio-visual installation (8-channel video work – 4 min loop)

2013

Exhibition: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

I would like to propose a show consisting of two interactive video installations. These two works present the act of laughing (Laughing Track) and crying (Crying Odds) as forms of temporary loss of control and are meant to play into each other. Both installations will be “activated” implicitly and explicitly. Upon entering either space, as the viewer gets closer to the projection/screen a sensor triggers a media file. In Laughing Tracks a woman begins laughing and correspondingly in Crying Odds a man begins to cry. As the viewer moves through either space different women and men go through cycles of laughing and crying before the individual file/performer returns to a start point and waits for the trigger. Multiple viewers will of course trigger more men and women laughing in the relative spaces.

My intention is to show in a very physical way the spaces around these emotions right before they become—the moment that one breaks into laughter, sheds a tear, burst into laughter and/or tears. Emotions that are so close to each and every one of us can at the same time be oddly mysterious.