Ingredients for Chaos

History has defined hysteria as a sex-selective disorder, believed to be possessed solely by women. Derived from the Greek word for uterus (hystera), this condition was often described as causing a wide range of symptoms, among which were hallucinations, violent outbursts, and extreme attitudes towards sex. In the 18th century, the notion of hysteria being linked to the brain — and no longer the uterus — was explored, gradually freeing it from the confines of the female experience.

In Recipe for Hysteria Salad, visual artist Ikea Rizalon explores hysteria as a social phenomenon that arises as an effect of various external factors. She situates this experience within the contemporary setting, suggesting that collective hysteria still manifests today albeit in more nuanced terms and complex situations. Taking a more fictional and lighthearted approach, Rizalon touches on the possible causes of both small-scale and large-scale hysteria in recent times — from anxiety, delusions, and depression, to political propaganda, social unrest, climate issues, and even the ubiquitous presence of social media in our personal lives. When taken as a whole, these individual crises bring about a rather subtle form of mass hysteria.

The exhibit presents a collection of figurative works and landscapes that are infused with a touch of comicality. Subjects are carefully composed on the canvas to evoke a sense of deceitfulness and false calm — figures lead one another blindly ahead, sceneries metamorphose into mirage-like landscapes, a faceless false prophet comes dressed in sheep’s skin, women sit with their hands folded neatly on their laps, while conversely, men aim their guns at an unseen target. Rizalon juxtaposes this false calm with a discernible chaos that belies each work in an effort to portray how these two conditions can coexist in the same plane.

In this respect, the exhibit suggests that when multiple conditions of fear, anxiety, shock, and other unpleasant emotions come together, the recipe for hysteria is completed. Rizalon brings this recipe to life in Hysteria Salad, an interactive installation that invites the audience to add their own ingredients for chaos, with options ranging from trauma and grief, to propaganda and oppression. The resulting work, with its jumbled mix of colors, becomes a visual representation of the experience of collective hysteria.

Recipe for Hysteria Salad employs a playful approach to examining how we respond to our environment. Rizalon recontextualizes hysteria into more contemporary circumstances, allowing viewers to visualize not only the ways in which it manifests, but also the imminent disaster that inevitably arises from it.

Elle Lucena

April 2024