We study humor and its application to public engagement methods. Our work takes the form of participatory performances, installations, live experiments and workshops. We routinely take things too far, inviting audiences to question, debate, and subvert the situations we may find ourselves in.
A workout that changes your walk so you can outsmart skeletal tracking surveillance.
SKU-Market in BIAS: BUILT THIS WAY
Science Gallery Dublin
October 22nd 2021 - February 2022
hümr 2.0 in UP CLOSE
MOD at University of South Australia
Online exhibition: October 2021- February 2022
COMING SOON
Laugh Crying
A documentary project about this obscure sentient trait
Project launching in 2021
TOO FAR: IFCI Wandering Headquarters
Project launching In 2021
Funded in part by a RACC Project Grant.
2022: Gait Augmentation Seminar in TRACKED + TRACED
Science Gallery Detroit
October 22 + 24 2021
Blended Reality Lecture Series
Bergen Centre for Electronic Arts: October 14 2020
Experimenting With Humor at The Institute For Comedic Inquiry
Creative Time Speaking Truth Summit X
The Cooper Union, NYC: November 14-16 2019
Staged: 2022: Gait Augmentation Seminar
V&A, FOOD: Bigger than the Plate
London, UK: May-October 2019
Exhibited: Human Pollination Project
Bend Design
October 23-25 2019
Talked: Play In The Future: How To Stage A Participatory Satire
Design Vancouver Washington
October 4-5 2019
Talked: Taking Things Too Far
Staged: 2022: Gait Augmentation Seminar
PRIMER19: Futures For All
The New School, NYC: June 14-15 2019
Staged: 2022 Gait Augmentation Seminar: An Exercise In Things Taken Too Far
International Society For Humor Studies Conference
Texas A&M University, Austin TX: June 24-28 2019
Exhibited: synthHAsizer
Talked: Serious Play: Use Participatory Satire to Capture the Public’s Imagination
Science Gallery Dublin INTIMACY Exhibition
Dublin, IE: October 2018 -February 2019
Exhibited: hümr: from haha to hand holding
Staged: For Play event, hümr speed dating
Willamette Week: The Creator’s Issue, September 2019
For Laura Allcorn, Jokes Aren’t Just Words They Can Be Physical Experiences
Design Portland Stories, April 2019
Interview with Laura Allcorn
The Arts Show Near.FM (Dublin, IE), March 2018
Artist Laura Allcorn chats to Norma Burke about FAKE at the Science Gallery Dublin
Cliche humor is making a comeback in the age of Trump—seems we’re really desperate for comedic relief. 🧻 Alexa finally stopped her creepy unsolicited laughing, but it was an eerie reminder that she is always listening.👂🏻Visual puns about bodily humor were found on a latrine in Turkey—they are 1,800 years old! 🚽 The oldest joke is dirty and taboo. 🍆 A study of The Onion’s headlines revealed there are linguistic cues that signal satire. 📰
Related Experiment: synthHAsizer.
Could gait tracking be the new facial recognition?🚶🏻♀The Washington County, Oregon PD was first to use Amazon’s Rekognition facial tracking software.👮🏻An NDA prevented public disclosure. 💵 Facial tracking training data isn’t diverse. 👎🏽 The FBI’s facial recognition can match 640 million people. 📸 San Francisco outlawed police use of facial recognition, but is a ban is the right approach? ❌ Privacy law students googled people based on what they saw and heard. 🤳🏽 Surveillance in China. 👀
Related Experiment: 2022: Gait Augmentation Seminar.
Many love-seekers say they are “looking for someone who shares my sense of humor”. 🤣 Do you know how you use humor? 🥼 Appearance-first dating apps are affecting our mental health. 😨 Maybe we should stop already with feeling sparks and commit to three dates. 💗 A ghost-writer for your dating profile costs $2,000 a month. 💵 Don’t lie, have you been sexting the waters, caspering, or lining? 👻
Related Experiment: hümr.
