My favourite response to the performance was the violent anger that it provoked in some people. And they were right, of course. We are being taken for fools. But when we start laughing at the powerful, they can prove remarkably fragile. Ceausescu’s fall was an education.
Flyers were distributed during the performance, with links to free downloadable 3D models of the heads, and a competition inviting people to make their own creative use of them.
Last Laugh – Venice
2019. Pop-up performance at the Venice Biennale.
The locally recruited actors responded to wearing these giant heads and the non-stop manic laughter tracks with a fantastically inventive range of gestures and body language. The rictus expressions of the masks seemed to come alive.
Push Me Pull You
2015. 2-channel video. 9 mins.
A collaboration with Joanna Hogg, consisting of a conversation about whether and how we could collaborate on a piece of work, restaged in drag.
Image: Push Me Pull You – publicity composite
Everything Is Under Control
2012. Garden shed, fluorescent paint, barrier tape & fencing. 250 x 1000 x 1000 cm.
“Everything is under control. There is nothing to see. For your safety and security do not stop to take photographs. Please keep moving. There is no cause for concern. The appropriate authorities have been informed.”
Last Laugh – Venice
Last Laugh – Venice
Push Me Pull You
Everything Is Under Control