Remembering Paralinguay

Video projector and stand, four amplified speakers, player (black and white; stereo sound)
Performer: Paulina Wallenberg-Olsson
Variable dimensions

In this single-channel projection work, a woman emerges from a distant point and struggles through an opening or unknown space until her face fills the screen, at which point she regains composure and begins to emit a series of startling sounds in extreme falsetto. These sounds seem to be of a very primitive nature, reminiscent of an ancient signaling system. The thin line separating language, music, calls, and animal cries underscores the impenetrable nature of sound. Perhaps the passerby is left with the sensation of having arrived at a place and time where one should not be (or simply is not!): a parallel reality. This realization leaves one uncomfortably close to an unknown distant past or a piercing future—a field of dangerous connection that seeks energy akin to that of an electric arc.