Artist Sharma Devashish

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Laughter is a complex emotion, and from what I gather, remains the least researched emotion. I would like to learn about the function of humour and study its evolution in various cultures. I have a vague idea of designing social experiments to understand the mysterious nature and function of humour and laughter, which might culminate in a series of sound installations, or sculptures. Recently, I shifted to Pune, a city in the western part of India, where my parents currently live. We aren’t city-folk, so the experience of living in a city, especially for my parents is quite new. We live on the fourth floor of an apartment in a residential colony, and one of the first things I noticed was the amount of sounds that filters into the house. Having lived mostly in rural areas, surrounded by forests, the sounds of nature are what we are used to, and so the sounds of the city, though a bit like white noise, still seep into the conscious functioning of the mind. Of the several sounds that one can hear, right from the sound of vehicles, to the sound of construction and the occasional bird, has been the sound of laughter. In particular, there is a lady who on most evenings breaks into spurts of laughter that are most likely inspired by the television show that she is watching. This often coincides with our dinner time, and as we sit eating, the sudden cackling sounds floats in through the balcony windows. We can’t hear the television- just the sudden peals of laughter. This sometimes makes us laugh in turn. I found this contagious aspect of laughter quite interesting, and would like to look at the nature of humour and laughter, and the way it has evolved in various cultures. I am not familiar with Finnish culture, and would very much like the opportunity to experience the unique sense of humour of the local communities, and also the sense of humour that each participant and person at the residency brings with them.