Frighteningly Good Art

The horror movie industry has traditionally tailored sounds and images to trigger terror, but what are we to make of art that 'plays' our paranoia in a closed-circuit TV symphony? Tomorrow, artistic duo Manu Luksch and Mukul Patel (AKA ambientTV.NET) will introduce their new installation, 'Orchestra of Anxiety,' at London's Watermans, where the show will run through the 24th of October. The work 'deploys security and surveillance technologies in an unusual and playful context,' and 'prompts visitors to reflect on their personal sense of security and their relationship with public fears (of petty crime, terrorism, etc.).' The artists remind us that the booming security industry--like Hollywood--makes its money by selling our own fears back to us. Employing instruments like an interactive harp requiring players to use a razorblade plectrum to set-off sound and projection, this visual symphony asks the audience to discover what happens when they abandon their fears. So if the most frightening thing you can imagine happening at a private view is the wine running out, then this is the show for you! - Charlotte Frost