The Video A - Harry Shearer: the Silent Echo Chamber May 16, 2009

'The Silent Echo Chamber' is a multi-screen video installation by the award-winning American comedic actor, writer, musician, and radio host Harry Shearer, best known for his regular 'Saturday Night Live' appearances and for providing many voices for the popular television series 'The Simpsons.' 'The Silent Echo Chamber' is the newest video work by Shearer, and will be presented on ten plasma monitors in the Museum's Screening Room. The project captures well-known personalities from politics and the media in the silent moments before "going live." Individuals portrayed include James Carville, Barack Obama, Larry King, Dr. Phil, John McCain, and Chris Matthews, each caught in the uneasy prelude to becoming the familiar animated "talking head." Shearer's silent portrait gallery turns the familiar into the strange, allowing visitors to project their own meaning on the awkward collective silence of those to whom Americans usually look for guidance and commentary.