Yawn Mania

Yawn Mania grew from curiosity about animal behavior and the boundary between living beings and future machines. Psychological and behavioral studies show that yawning has a distinctive rhythm and contagious force. In nature, contagious yawning appears among vertebrates whose social behavior involves empathy. The work asks whether such empathy can emerge between people and machines.

A custom circuit translates yawning into linear mechanical movement. The immersive installation records and responds to viewers, turning a complex social behavior into a dialogue between organic and mechanical bodies.