ART CRITICISM

Anna Winiarska


Hayward Exhibition
“Laughing in a Foreign Language”


Laughing in a Foreign Language has sacked me in to its strange world. Huge stuffed animals on top of each other made me feel out of proportion, like a new born baby surrounded by its soft toys. I decided to see more and there he was, a sad clown wondering around a jungle. He was trapped, circling around the bushes alone. I hate clowns, but I actually felt sorry for him. Doors appear in front of me with many keys lying on the floor, lets try to find one that fits. I open the curtain and I ended up in a Japanese room, the floor was comfy, I sat on one cushion and I was practicing my Japanese: sumo, sahimi, udon, sushi, yamaha, hara-kiri, Pikachu, Toshiba, bonsai, Atari, origami. I stuck my head into the laundry basket where I found a man who was stuffing a washing machine with clothes, fishes and ketchup. I am lost, I see writing on the wall, what is it? That’s a mistake. I found myself watching a video with much interesting information, full of unbelievable things, but from time to time, the images are so disgusting that they make me sick. I am still watching oh no. Strange I cannot move, I look around end everybody looks hypnotized. I can hear a voice calling ‘hello’, ‘hi’, who is that? where is that voice coming from? I must find it. Colourful faces on the wall are telling jokes when you press their noses. A girl in a blue dress has got a plastic bag on her head, an amazing tower made of stamps, people jumping in time. Group of gigantic people are staring at me, like they are waiting for me to make a mistake, I feel tiny again.