Liz Magic Laser on Convulsive States

In Liz Magic Laser’s 2023 exhibition commissioned for Pioneer Works, Convulsive States, she explored the shaking body as both a symptom and a cure for psychic distress. For the first time, we're releasing a behind-the-scenes glimpse into how the performance and video artist created the new body of work, which traced the lineage of psychosomatic disorders through interactive videos offering therapeutic movement exercises. Simultaneously, Laser’s investigative report feverishly pursued the cure for hysteria as it uncovered mysteries at Paris’s Salpêtrière Hospital—a site widely regarded as the birthplace of modern neurology and psychology. Laser explains: “What drew me to hysteria was the refusal to perform, the refusal to behave.” ♦