Tom Robbins, American author
“It is requisite for the relaxation of the mind that we make use, from time to time, of playful deeds and jokes.”
Saint Thomas Aquinas, Italian philosopher and theologian
“Comedy is not Pretty”, Dominic Molon & MIchael Rooks
Situation Comedy: Humor in Recent Art, Independent Curators International, NY 2005
I chose “playful” because I've grown tired of the grim and grotesque in art. The world is an ugly place, and the light-heartedness of Erwin Wurm and Keith Boadwee revealed to me that not all need to be doom and gloom in the art world. As Wurm puts it, "If you approach things with a sense of humor, people immediately assume you're not to be taken seriously. But I think truths about society and human existence can be approached in different ways. You don't always have to be deadly serious. Sarcasm and humor can help you see things in a lighter vein."
I agree. I think that humor and playfulness can disarm viewers, or catch us with our guard or prejudices down, and allow the message in the work to be understood more clearly.
Of course, humor and playfulness are just as subjective and dependent on taste and opinion as all art.
