Silent Pundits

At the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Conn., humorist Harry Shearer — he of Spinal Tap, Simpsons, and Le Show fame — offers a new exhibit called "The Silent Echo Chamber."

The video exhibit displays pundits and pols on live video feeds waiting for their hits. Or, as the museum describes it, 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." “The Silent Echo Chamber is especially relevant following such an intense political season and we’re very pleased to introduce his work into the museum arena for the first time," says Aldrich exhibitions director Richard Klein.

– jpt