Candice Breitz’s new piece New York, New York premiered Thursday night as part of Performa 09. It was laugh out loud funny, which made me reflect that there’s seemingly a lack of humor in contemporary art at the moment. Continuing her collaboration with twins, she held marathon character-building sessions where each set of twins developed a distinct and unique character. Act one started with a video introduction to each pair of twins in character, presented in screen test format. There’s Texas Liberty Star-Spangled Banner, who’s a creepy, self-loathing, rich Upper East Side socially awkward momma’s boy, fascinated with the poor, Archie comics, and all things gross. Shaun is the disillusioned, post-parental divorce teenager. Oun is the gypsyesque eastern European, possible hermaphrodite who loves to sit in trees. Lastly Sachikai is the narcissistic, optimistic star of her own show on the Food Network, Take Me Out. The twins are equally divided and each team takes a turn at improvising to a loose set of instructions.

Breitz has created a structure that the audience is fully aware of through the overtly informational program, which takes you through each step of the invented characters and what their loose directions are for this improved performance. What emerges through the characters that each set of twins created independent of the other sets is a patchwork vision of the American Dream. Although they’re all distinct, it’s the common ground that they’ve slipped into that’s most revealing.

You can catch the continuation and second act of New York, New York Friday night at 8:30 at the Abrons Arts Center.