HYSTERIA 2.0.0 v01

Demonstrations, police – »Was the expectant mother not pregnant or certainly or not? And if she wasn’t, how can anyone be so stupid?« – Fasching – Baby falls off the changing table – »When will these men there stop being afraid of women? When?« – »We oppose Conchita Wurst and all bearded men in dresses, say bearded men in dresses.« – A cat video. Like it. Comment.

The video HYSTERIA 2.0.0.V01, by the Vienna based artist Amina Handke, reminds one of the daily look at a timeline on the social network platform Facebook. The contributions selected for the video are real Facebook postings. The posted videos about genuine, serious news items which, however, because of the hysterical and strong emotions expressed, quickly seem exaggerated. The videos, which have a strong hang to sensation, only seldom have a clear relationship to the read out Facebook postings. The material used has one common factor, it deals with events in Vienna. With people’s contributions to Facebook, Amina Handke comments on themes which appeared as up-to-the-minute events in the press. As a contrast to the intended earnestness, Handke interrupts the political themes with videos of cats and babies, which also underline the small amount of information in all the messages selected. Her personal opinion is mostly hidden behind this surface of Facebook opinions and can be interpreted in various ways. Like it. Comment. Offline. (Lisa Warring)