WE WERE LIVING IN DIFFERENT PLACES (AND NOT JUST METAPHORICALLY)
It is universally acknowledged that a happy life is a good life, and yet, as a civilization we are becoming increasingly depressed, stressed and removed from life’s simple pleasures. In this piece, four women are filmed in their own home, reading from different books, each advising the best way to pursue happiness. The viewer enters the gallery space where the women are projected onto each of the four walls. As the visual language is reminiscent of instructional movies, infomercials and the lost art of storytelling, the viewer waits for a narrative to be gifted beyond that which they are immediately given. Headphones on the wall allow the viewer to listen to one track at a time, further isolating the women from each other. The women are singing from their texts in an operatic fashion. As we listen to how we should best become happy, the gulf between intention and reality becomes wider and more insurmountable.