Taus Makhacheva

The universal culture of lamentation. Some countries are better at it than others. For some it is almost a national pastime, expected, and encouraged. As our worldwide culture of 24/7 connectivity infiltrates all aspects of our lives, lamentations seem to rise exponentially. We are constantly apologizing for not responding fast enough. Sometimes we don’t respond, only to prove a point. Expectations for instant replies are unnerving. Tensions arise. Scoldings arrive. Lamentations increase.

But what, in fact, are we lamenting? Apologies might be authentic. At times, we express a lamentation as an apology, only to mean that we are lamenting the feeling we are getting from the other’s insistence. We should be apologizing to ourselves, avoiding the stress altogether, disconnecting. Sometimes there is more authenticity in silence.

Makhacheva’s witty installation includes actual recordings of lamentations, 52 in all, suspended, producing a cacophony of sound, confronting the viewer upon entry. It is only after walking around that the viewer realizes that each individual lamentation can be heard clearly by simply placing an ear close to a speaker - giving time and attention to each person one at a time - listening to a whole conversation rather than half listening to blips of sound while scrolling past hundreds of posts an hour. After all, that is all we are really asking for isn’t it - to be listening to.