The Linguistic Errantry

  • Artist Name

    Tansy XIAO

  • Media

    Virtual Reality

  • Size/Duration

    Dimensions Variable

  • Year

    2022

“The Linguistic Errantry” reimagines the Tower of Babel in a way that manifests the arbitrary nature of history: the consolidation and disintegration of sovereigns, an anticipated revolution to be generated by mere chance, or a parallel universe where nothing ever happens and only entropy reigns supreme. Contingency here serves as a passive approach of resistance, with a silver lining that in theory, like the infinite monkey theorem, the giraffes could sing complete lines of L’Internationale if given an infinite amount of time.
Artist

Tansy Xiao

Tansy  XIAO is an artist, curator and writer based in New York. Xiao creates theatrical installations with non-linear narratives that often extend beyond the fourth wall. Her work explores the immense power and inherent inadequacy of language through the assemblage of stochastic audio and recontextualized objects. She finds solace in the unknown, ludicrousness in the authorities, and absurdity in the geopolitical demarcations that separate and differentiate people. Xiao’s work has been shown at Queens Museum, New Media Caucus, Piksel Festival, NARS Foundation,Pelham Art Center, and The Immigrant Artist Biennial, among others. She has received grants and support from Brooklyn Arts Council, Foundation for Contemporary Arts and Harvestworks Digital Media Arts Center.