Henry Chung. Manchild Noise Box

Manchild Noise Box reflects on the absurdity of the American political echo chamber. Using technologies like generative AI and neural speech synthesis to mimic statements made by former President Donald Trump, Henry Chung immerses the viewer/listener in a light-hearted audio-sensory simulation as comical as it is disquieting.  

Stilted, childlike voices babble nonsensical statements that parrot the ex-President’s idiolect, sucking viewers into a sonic vacuum of surreal propaganda. Chung’s “Noise Boxes” project a supplemental identity onto the former head of state. By stripping Trump down to his utterances, the installation highlights the connection between his bombastic rhetoric and the immaturity of his intent. 

Voices emanating from each of the Noise Boxes create an endless feedback loop of petty non sequiturs and misinformation. These fanciful statements act as “alternative facts,” evoking humor and disbelief at an “alternative” presidency already filled with levity and absurdity. The repeating audio both literally and figuratively funnels visitors into an echo chamber in which the supposed voice of reason defies all logic, thus reproducing the radicalization pipeline. By marketing regressive ideas as thinking outside the box, the political establishment effectively sold us the box in which to bury ourselves. 

Encapsulating the long four years of Trump’s presidency in truly ridiculous ramblings, Chung reminds us how precariously close our presidency was perched on the edge of invalidity. If we are to escape this cycle of noise—of culture wars and consumerist appeals signifying nothing—we have to break the box. 

Henry Chung lives in Brooklyn and maintains a studio in Red Hook where he builds pinhole cameras and programs obsolete computer equipment. His work has recently been exhibited at Portal: Governors Island (2021–2022), Mount Airy Contemporary (2019), NOMENCoLorATURE, Studio10 (2016), Slag Gallery (2015), Lesley Heller Workspace (2014–2015), HERE (2013), Harbor (2013), Governors Island Art Fair (2012), and in numerous private collections.