Happy New Tears composes sonic compositions that sit between emotional semiotic states such as waking and sleeping or finding the turning point between euphoria and rage or the moment celebration turns into sadness. They use these uncanny voids to explore empowerment at the intersection between two worlds. This is as much a signature style as an autobiographical rendering. Happy New Tears identifies as bi-racial with both Dutch and Zambian heritage they traverse the two spaces at ease but noting the complexity of not belonging wholly to either.

This moment of the in-between can be found in their sonic compositions as a tool of direction for this year’s biennale. The sounds that they have composed lay heavily on the viewer’s mind, completely shattering the traditional silent viewing of the art world. Happy New Tears plays with direction, fiction-theory and rhythm to conduct a relationship between the viewer and their own score aided by the works of Jonas Schoeneberg and Omsk Social Club in their collaborative piece The Living Necrologue. The sonic protagonists created by Happy New Tears seduce the viewer aurally. Telling the tale of holding the world in their hands and gently cracking it open, atomising everything and betraying all states of reality as you once heard it – becoming undone.

Happy New Tears, Omsk Social Club, Jonas Schoeneberg
The Living Necrologue, 2021
Interactive immersive installation
Dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist
Commissioned and produced by the Athens Biennale

Happy New Tears
Avatar, 2021
Audio, 6’14’’
Courtesy of the artist
Commissioned and produced by the Athens Biennale

DJ Mix, 2021
Audio, 90’
Courtesy of the artist
Commissioned and produced by the Athens Biennale

Eclipsed Self, 2021
Audio, 8’27’’
Courtesy of the artist
Commissioned and produced by the Athens Biennale

Guided Meditation, 2021
Audio, 21’41’’
Courtesy of the artist
Commissioned and produced by the Athens Biennale

The Hedonic Eye, 2021
Audio, 9’02’’
Courtesy of the artist
Commissioned and produced by the Athens Biennale

Universe 3.0, 2021
Audio, 8’57’’
Courtesy of the artist
Commissioned and produced by the Athens Biennale