Yanny or Laurel
duo show with Franck Miltgen at Saarländische Galerie Berlin, 2018
https://www.saarlaendische-galerie.eu/veranstaltung/annicchiarico_miltgen/
"Yanny or Laurel" is an auditory illusion which became popular in May 2018, in which a short audio recording of speech can be heard as one of two names. 53 percent of over 500,000 respondents to a Twitter poll reported hearing a man saying the word "Laurel", while 47 percent reported hearing a voice saying the name "Yanny". Analysis of the sound frequencies has confirmed that both sets of sounds are present in the mixed recording, but some users focus on the higher frequency sounds in "Yanny" and cannot seem to hear the lower sounds of the word "Laurel". When the audio clip is slowed to lower frequencies, the word "Yanny" is heard by more listeners, while faster playback loudens "Laurel".
In einem Spiel mit absurd wirkenden Elementen aus Bühnenbild und Spiegelkabinett leitet Yann Annicchiaricos Installation “yanny or laurel” Blicke und Bewegungen der Betrachter. An den Wänden einer Staffage-Architektur befinden sich, in Kästen integriert und gespiegelt, Fleckenbilder absichtlichen und unabsichtlichen Ursprungs neben Gegenständen und Materialien, die man zum Kostümieren/Verkleiden nutzt. Die Montage zwischen Traum, Fiktion und Realität bricht mehrfach mit der Vorstellung einer nur allein gültigen Realität, so, als sei es nicht so einfach an einer bestimmten Stelle einen klaren Strich zu ziehen.
In the interplay of seemingly absurd elements inspired by theatre scenarios and halls of mirrors, Yann Annicchiarico’s installation ‘yanny or laurel’ guides the recipient’s gaze and movements. Integrated and reflected in boxes mounted on the walls of what could well be a stage set, images consisting of stains of deliberate or accidental origin can be found alongside other objects and materials such as are used for dress or disguise.
The montage between dream and reality dispels in several respects the fiction of the single valid reality, so underlining that it’s not a simple matter to draw a clear, definitive line around this or that.
Dr. Andrea Weber, Saarländische Galerie, Berlin