The Mirror Exercise
Two-Channel Video Installation, 3m15s
2022
Exercise 03: Perform the Mirror Exercise.
The following video is a documentation of Voice-Over Artists Dima Wehbe and Afaf Shawwa Bibi carrying out a long-familiar warm-up exercise that has been modified by the artist.
In addition to questions one would be asked to prepare for during any job interview, the script interjects questions from what is known to be the first job interview questionnaire. The Woodworth-Mathews Personal Data Sheet was first developed during WWI by psychologist, Robert S. Woodworth. It was created to assess recruits’ susceptibility to shell shock or, as we know it today, PTSD. Thus began the still-prevalent practice of personality tests in the workplace. Many of these tests, like Woodworth's, focused on the construct of employee maladjustment and were deemed important in screening out applicants who would create workplace disturbances.1
1Gibby, Robert & Zickar, Michael. (2008). A history of the early days of personality testing in American industry: An obsession with adjustment. History of psychology. 11. 164-84. 10.1037/a0013041.
Follow the link to take you to the exercises
Exercise 01: Repeat the phrase “Terms and Conditions apply” for a duration of one minute. Each iteration should differ.
Exercise 02: Narrate the script. Increase the intensity of happiness as you go along.
Vocal Artefacts