Tansy Xiao

Domestic Language

Domestic Language is a video installation with a computer-generated script delivered by real performers whose faces are projected onto plastic eggs installed in a floating cabinet. The script uses concrete nouns from the objects that appear in the collaged images on the cabinet: abstract nouns from the critical writings of Oscar Wilde, verbs from erotic fictions, adjectives from the press releases of art galleries, adverbs from the speeches of former presidents, and interjections from animal onomatopoeia. The theatrical nature of this piece sets the audience in the position of disinterested spectators. The absurdity of the words spoken indicates the ultimate failure of interpersonal communication, occupying the same niche as the tale of the Tower of Babel or the theories of Ludwig Wittgenstein.

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