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Hysteria

A work made of 16 mm color film transferred to digital video (projection, silent); 8 min. loop

edition number two of three.

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  • A work made of 16 mm color film transferred to digital video (projection, silent); 8 min. loop

edition number two of three.

Date:

1997

Artist:

Sam Taylor-Wood
English, born 1967

About this artwork

Sam Taylor-Wood rose to prominence in the 1990s for her psychologically sensitive films, photographs, and videos. In many of her works, she presents small moments of human drama that function as portraits of individual personalities, passions, and obsessions. The artist has stated, “I am trying to gather a complete series of human feelings, even if reflected in more than one person. The same room is the setting for eroticism, rage, pensiveness, creativity, repulsion, anxiety, joy, anguish, pleasure. It is as if I wanted to explain the entire range of the emotional or existential world.” The workings of emotion are far from simple, though, and as Taylor-Wood depicts ritualized expressions and intense outbursts in works like Hysteria, she explores the possible disjunctions between outward behavior and an internal sense of self.
The title Hysteria refers to an extreme state of emotional disturbance while recalling the now-discredited notion of female hysteria, a common diagnosis during the Victorian era for women experiencing any number of symptoms. The eight-minute video is a closely framed view of a woman’s face that challenges us to distinguish whether she is laughing or crying. The footage is presented in slow motion and without sound, heightening the confusion between these different emotions. In narrative cinema, close-ups conventionally elicit a feeling of intimacy with the characters, but Taylor-Wood’s ambiguous depiction of the woman’s silenced cries encourages varied responses—from conflicting senses of identification and alienation to different shades of emotional engagement and critical detachment.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Contemporary Art

Artist

Sam Taylor-Wood

Title

Hysteria

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1997

Medium

16 mm color film transferred to digital video (projection, silent); 8 min. loop Edition number two of three

Credit Line

Gift of Donna and Howard Stone

Reference Number

2007.39

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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