Do artists who use everyday humour in their work mirror life, or does life mirror art? And is quotidian humour something everyone can relate to or is it only relative to our own experiences?

I can relate to these art works as a young person and as an art student.

I find Laure Provost's work touching and her means of communicating humour quite beautiful. Slips of the tongue that I can relate to in her work include misinterpreting one word for another, leading to another fluid but different conversation that can be heart warming.

Girl Chewing Gum is funny to me because it prompts a sense of anticipation and then understanding once 'we get the joke' and the humour in works such as David Shrigley's Life Model became more apparent to me after experiencing life drawing classes at college. 

Life and art can arguably be seen to mirror each other in the sense that they influence each other. Shrigley's Life Model mirrors life becoming art when considering the involvement from the audience for the piece, and John Smith mirrors art with his use of documentation in Girl Chewing Gum. Life and art bounce off each other in an on going loop; an influence for many artists when creating their art.

However, not everyone may react to everyday humour in the same way as I do. Everyone has their own opinion on what they find humorous and what they don't. But just because everyone may not consider all of these examples to be funny doesn't mean they don't relate to the experiences of others elsewhere, and that these people don't find them funny. 

We react to the everyday in various ways, not everyone has the same perception or sense of humour or else it would become worn out, bland, and dull just like the endless routine of the everyday that much humour senses to make fun of and make palatable. By having various, humorous responses to the everyday we have more depth into what is humorous and what is just plain silly, but makes us smile. 

I have found all the examples I have shown to link fun to the everyday. It cannot be justified fully that I am right or wrong about the examples I have given. I have analysed a range of pieces that use different formats and from different times.

I think I have shown that the use of quotidian humour in these pieces relates perhaps most strongly to those who have experienced what they question or provoke. For example, people who experience the routine and the characters from the hierarchy of the workplace perhaps relate to comedy such as 'The Office' and John Wood and Paul Harrison's 10x10.

However, for me, all these works have the power to more me with their humour, pathos and bathos. The quotidian in the end, relates to the majority of us and its something we can all therefore relate to.

John Smith and Steve McQueen both incorporate the idea of repetition in their work.

Repetition can cause a visual echo and reinforce certain aspects of the work.

For example in John Smith's Girl Chewing Gum (1976), Smith plays on the idea of repetition in the everyday, putting a narration over the film of everyday people in an everyday setting, going about their daily routines. By narrating the film as if he is "directing" the everyday occurrences, it has the feel of documentary. The black and white 1970's film resonates with ideas of social documentary and programmer of the time such as 'Seven Up' by Michael Apted. By using this 'Big Brother' format, it captures the humorous quality of repetition in the everyday, and by continuously developing a narrative throughout this film, it can relate to today's society with such comparisons as the television show "Big Brother", which uses the same idea of narrating the everyday of the house mates lives in the 'Big Brother House'.

Girl Chewing Gum Still, John Smith (1976)

Similarly, Steve McQueen also played on the idea of repetition in his film Deadpan (1997). This film references the famous Buster Keaton gag sequence in Steamboat Bill Jnr (1928) but abandons the original film narrative. By looping various clips from various angles of the front of a wooden house falling on top of the man, leaving unscathed each time due to the conveniently placed boxed out window, the constant repetition becomes funny and plays on the idea of comedy, just like Smith's use of narration. By continuously building this repetitive narrative also relates to contemporary popular television shows like 'You've Been Framed', which plays on the same idea of repetition.

Deadpan, Steve McQueen (1997)

Similar to the potential risk portrayed in Steve McQueen's Deadpan, is the work of artist duo John Wood and Paul Harrison. For example in their film installation 10x10 (2011) they focus on mundane, everyday objects that are found in office buildings and interact with them in various ways such as hoovering one room dressed in a 'spider man' costume to balancing on a filing cabinet. By experimenting with the everyday routine in a performance aspect of anticipation from the unexpected-finding humour, repetition and the use of mundane are key comedic devices employed in their work, which is similar to the function of the repetition used in Deadpan.

10x10 still, John Wood and Paul Harrison (2011)

McQueen and Wood and Harrison use this obviousness of potential risk in their performance pieces to create anticipation of something funny happening or 'going wrong', whereas John Smith uses the anticipation of what is about to be narrated or 'directed' into the film next, responding to repetition of the everyday in a slightly different, but still humorous way. Considering all 3 artists so far it can be argued that film is a useful medium for humour because it is time-based and allows for both repetition of actions or events and for a build up of anticipation.

The playfulness displayed in John Wood and Paul Harrison's work can relate to the playful yet dark humoured approach in David Shrigley's work. As a  2013 Turner Prize nominee his work does display a child-like manner, especially within his drawings. For example in his drawing Ants have Sex in Your Beer (2007), the scribble-like drawing is very crude and childishly executed in his deliberate technique. This breaks down the barrier between high art, such as paintings from the Renaissance, and low art such as his witty and wry observations on everyday life, if we consider this child-like, idiosyncratic work was nominated at the 2013 Turner Prize. 

Ants have Sex in Your Beer, David Shrigley (2007)

Shrigley's playful yet dark humoured work relates to Wood and Harrison's use of playing/experimenting with the everyday. Although Shrigley doesn't express his take of the everyday through the idea of repetition and using the medium of film like McQueen, Smith and Wood and Harrison, he is very relevant to this enquiry which focuses on the playful aspect used in all of these artists' work in relation to the everyday.

Also in the 2013 Turner Prize, winner Laure Prouvost's work relates to interpretations of the everyday with her playful and comedic take on language barriers. Being a French artist living in the UK, Prouvost is able to break down the language barrier in a personal, light hearted way. For example in Wantee (2013), (which was created as a response to artist Kurt Schwitters for the 'Schwitters in Britain' exhibition at Tate Britain), she narrates and physically directs the camera (just like John Smith's technique used in Girl Chewing Gum) through a quirky, 'story telling' technique. By using this narration she is able to play with what objects we see in this 'lived in' house, pointing out what is real and what isn't, misinterpreting one word as another, making this piece arguably more light hearted compared to the other pieces of work presented above. By also deliberately entitling this piece 'Wantee' which came from a friend's 'Want Tea?' she makes it obvious that she is playing with her own difficulties with the barrier of language, creating a playful, narrative humour from her own personal experience.

Wantee Screen Shot, Laure Prouvost (2013)

Her quirky work relates to Wood and Harrison's incorporation of the everyday. Although Prouvost uses the same medium as the likes of McQueen, Smith and Wood and Harrison, she doesn't focus on repetition but rather the challenges of the everyday in a more personal and interactive way, making her relevant to this enquiry.

In conclusion, all these artists use humour or comedy as a strategy within their work in order to try and relate the everyday world. Repetition can be seen as a technique which has comedic value in popular culture such as television shows, which then makes art work by John Smith and Steve McQueen relevant to this focus when considering how repetition can gives meaning to the daily routine of the everyday. By physically being involved with the everyday, by experimenting it with new ways, creating what we consider as mundane objects to become something new to play with, it also breaks this 'loop' we are stuck in within the everyday routine. By adding in thoughts and personal barriers into this play and personal experimentation artists bring to life aspects of routine that may not be expected to be a focus of culture or art.

Yet these works have the power to focus our attention on aspects of life that may otherwise be overlooked.

Jeff Koons and David LaChapelle both knowingly challenge the viewer with their work. Both incorporate ideas of kitsch, pop art and exaggeration. 

In Clement Greenberg's seminal essay Avant Garde and Kitsch (1939) the modernist critic describes the properties of high art  as something which can be seen to be skilled - such as paintings from the Renaissance, including typically, detailed portraits of people, displaying knowledge of techniques and practices in art. He goes on to compare this with 'kitsch' which he describes as making art anything you want it to be, using culture of some sort to provide a more accessible foundation for knowledge within the arts to people who may not fully understand genuine culture such as Michelangelo's David. 

As Greenberg describes:"To fill the demand of the new market, a new commodity was devised: ersatz culture, kitsch, destined for those who, insensible to the values of genuine culture, are hungry nevertheless for the diversion that only culture of some sort can provide" (www.sharecom.ca). 

Greenberg's hypothesis might link to the work of Koons and LaChapelle because their (postmodern)work is considered to be more accessible when considering the references made to celebrity culture and the perception by the art market that what they do is indeed high art (It is certainly art with high price tags).

The use of exaggeration in Koons' and LaChapelle's work also references the baroque period in art which produced drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur. The style, beginning around 1600 in Rome, Italy spread across most of Europe. Popular with the Roman Catholic Church, Baroque suited the church due to it's capacity to communicate religious themes with direct and emotional involvement from viewers, - asserting authority, power and control, as well as referencing the tremendous wealth of the Roman Catholic Church.  

When considering these terms and styles of art, Koons and LaChapelle both use extravagance as a way of expressing a darkly humorous take on what surrounds us in everyday media such as the papers and television.   For example Jeff Koons' sculpture Michael Jackson and Bubbles (1988) is deliberately large scale, exaggerating the banality of the subject matter, as well as making a statement about value. It can also be interpreted to reference idolatry for example in relation to its religious reference to Michelangelo's Chapel of Pieta (1498) which depicts St. Mary cradling the body of her dead son in her lap after the Crucifixion. Considered to be an important work, the pieta  balances Renaissance ideals of classical beauty with naturalism (http://en.wikipedia.com). 

In some ways, Koons' work depicts the opposite of  ideals of classical beauty and naturalism, yet it reflects the mocking humour that celebrity culture can provoke; especially in relation to the unnatural appearance of Michael Jackson through his use of plastic surgery, and the value of the 'ideal' in today's image conscious society. 

Michael Jackson and Bubbles, Jeff Koons (1988)

Similarly, LaChapelle also created a extravagant photograph of Michael Jackson which also references the Chapel of Pieta in his picture American Jesus: Hold me, Carry me boldly (2009). This photograph also references idolatry, making humour out of celebrity culture and pin pointing how valued it is in today's society, by making it ridiculously extravagant with  vivid colour and detail which exaggerates the irony of what is being displayed. Considering how the pieta balances Renaissance ideals of classical beauty with naturalism, LaChapelle's photograph mimics this idea in a crude humour.

 The reference to Michelangelo's Chapel of Pieta was originally not to represent death, but to show the communion between man and God by the sanctification through Christ. 

LaChapelle's intentions for this photograph were not to represent death but to represent the 'sanctification' of Micheal Jackson, projecting the irony of the institution that tried to prosecute Jackson for pedophilia in a exaggerated and darkly funny way. Although they use different formats, (sculpture and photography) to express humour, their styles both link to kitsch, extravagant, flourished interpretations of celebrity culture and it's value.

“I’m not condemning the Catholic Church — it’s too big, it’s like condemning a nation and that would be prejudiced. But what I’m doing here is pointing out an irony: Here you have an institution that has systematically protected pedophile priests and then you have an innocent Michael Jackson, who California spent millions of dollars trying to prosecute and could not do it because it was complete bulls–t.” (www.davidlachapelle.com) 

American Jesus: Hold me, Carry me boldly, David LaChapelle (2009)

Another relevant example of Jeff Koons work is his ArtPop (2013) sculpture. This sculpture was created and used as an album cover for singer Lady Gaga's "Artpop". Just like his sculpture of Michael Jackson this sculpture is kitsch and extravagant seen in the exaggerated scale of the piece, and making a large reference to celebrity culture, making it something appealing, and in this case, seductive to the appeal of celebrity life. The use of over exaggerated sexuality within this sculpture's pose can arguably be seen as a strategy to promote celebrity culture as well as to show how celebrity culture tends to challenge the viewer in music videos and the outfits celebrities wear to try and make them unique but cliche. However it can be seen to be humorous in some ways as the extravagant size of this sculpture makes the link to celebrity culture and sexuality in some ways become banal. The use of the blue mirror ball perhaps references Koons' balloon sculptures can be interpreted as a play on words with the album title "Artpop" as the mirror ball not only references sexuality but it highlights the sculpture's vulnerability. "The Gaga cover is like a combination of all these different things," Karmel said. "The image with the cut-up collage pieces is something you see in a lot of his paintings from 20 years ago, but the [gazing] ball is like a miniature version of the balloon sculptures. And the fact that it's between her legs ... you can't help thinking about what's behind it, which brings to mind the 'Made in Heaven' series. It seems pretty brilliant to me." (MTV).

Artpop, Jeff Koons (2013)

 Both of these artists, use inspiration from pop and celebrity culture to create work about how the media influences our everyday. There is arguably a strong sense of humour in these pieces of work that are very bold, dynamic and aesthetically pleasing, and, both of these artists can be considered to be relevant to my focus.



 

Walker Evans, Paul Graham and George Shaw all relate to each other through the strategy and mechanism of modernist sensibilities. Modernist sensibilities arguably afford us a welcome break from postmodern irony.

Walker Evans embodies the sensibility of American modernism. For example Evan's photograph of Allie Mae Burroughs taken in 1936 reveals the sensitivity of her situation as it oscillates between estrangement and endearment, or as Lincoln Kirstein describes this paradox, "tender cruelty". 

Alabama Tenant Farmer Wife, Walker Evans, (1936)

By documenting the depression era in an objective way it not only allows the viewer to engage with the image by trying to respond to it through interpretation, but also provides valuable documentation of what life was like during the great depression in America. This crisis began in August of 1929, when the United States economy first went into an economic downfall,although it was not until the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 that the affects of a declining economy were felt, and a major economic downturn ensued. The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement (http://history1900s.about.com).

During the great depression Walker Evans' worked for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) documenting the effects the great depression had on the lives of various people, and by doing so achieved his goal as a photographer to create images that are "literate, authoritative, transcendent" in their own right (http://en.wikipedia.org).

The use of documentation in Walker Evans' work relates to Paul Graham's contemporary work as he also documents aspects of society in relation to economic forces and his work also arguably demonstrates modernist sensibilities. For example in Paul Graham's series of photos "Beyond Caring" (1984), Graham took photos of people in various welfare centres across the UK during the peak of Thatcher's premiership. Margaret Thatcher was the longest serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century and is the only woman to have held the office. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation (particularly of the financial-sector), flexible labour markets, the privatisation of state owned companies, and the reduction of power and influence of trade unions (http://en.wikipedia.org).

Just like Walker Evan's photographs from the great depression, Graham has documented consequences of job losses and lack of prospects during Margaret Thatcher's reign of power, "the unique qualities of photography are its struggle to deal with time and life. Sometimes I think those are our materials. Not film, not paper, not prints: time and life" (photo quotation.com).

Beyond Caring, Paul Graham (1984-5)

George Shaw's work shares the modernist sensibilities of the work of Paul Graham and Walker Evans. However, he doesn't document the everyday in the same way. Instead he uses nostalgia for the everyday to create his paintings that document areas of Coventry the town he grew up in as a child. The artist uses Humbrol enamel paint to reignite what it was like for him when he was a child growing up. By painting derelict environments such as his painting The Back that use to be The Front (2008), he depicts the struggle of people facing the hardship in a non-romanticised way, using a kind of harsh nostalgia, which relates to the theme of "tender cruelty" as used by Evans and Graham but documents the everyday in a different medium. His paintings also link to modernism with the use of flat planes of colour. In terms of both tone and mood and abstraction, his paintings can be seen to resemble the paintings of Mark Rothko.

Shaws' paintings are focused on the Tile Hill suburb of Coventry and focus on environments which are communicated to the viewer through an emptiness and absence of human life in unremarkable, everyday buildings and scenes.

The Back that use to be The Front, George Shaw (2008)

Overall, considering all three artists, it can be seen that they all take inspiration from the everyday to create work about the struggle of people facing hardship within the everyday in a non-romanticised way. George Shaw uses nostalgia as well as the challenging realism of Graham and Evans.

In terms of my personal focus on quotidian humour, if there is any humour in any of these pieces of work, it is very subtle and black, therefore it is appropriate that these artists are not considered to be entirely relevant to my focus.

  

Turner Prize 2013

Continuing on from the work of Turner Prize nominee David Shrigley, I will also reference Laure Prouvost who uses humour within her video installations.

A French artist, Pouvost was nominated for her new work Wantee (2013) shown at the "Schwitters in Britain" exhibition, Tate Britain, where she communicated her thoughts of everyday problems with language and association.

One example of humour being used as strategy in her work is Wantee. This video installation depicts Prouvost carrying around the camera in a "lived in" house, talking us through what she is seeing and how she is perceiving it, as if she is directly talking to us. In one section of this video she points the camera towards a painted window on a wall, and then to a real window, talking us through what is real and what isn't. 

This  quirky and humorous 'stating the obvious' comparison, uses the personal directions of the camera to create light hearted humour in considering the comedic value of language barriers. The title of this video installation can also be considered to be humorous as it can easily be mis-interpretated through pronounciation;  "Wantee" can be interpretated as "Want Tea?", another example of Prouvost-ian strategies highlighting the barrier of language.

Screenshot from Wantee, Laure Prouvost (2013)

In Swallow (2013), the video installation depicts various scenes - including a close up of a woman's mouth inhaling and exhaling, the picking and eating of strawberries and raspberries, and various shots of naked women and men walking around a lush environment, and, for example, wading through a lake. In one section of this video the camera is focused on a fish which appears to swim out of the water to a stone, which has raspberries on top, and then supposedly steals a raspberry and swims back into the water. While we focus on this clip we hear a seductive, female voiceover say "the bird stealing the raspberry". 

As Laure Prouvost says: ‘I think misunderstanding makes you use your imagination more'.(Tate Shots)

Overall when considering Prouvost's video installations, it is arguably  humour that helps us to interpret Prouvost's understanding of the world, in a light hearted, playful and often surprising manner.  

   

Turner Prize 2013

In this years Turner Prize, which is being held in Northern Ireland at Ebrington in Derry-Londonderry, David Shrigley,one of the nominees for this years Turner Prize shows various examples of humour in his sculpture and illustrations.

The Turner Prize is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist under the age of 50. The nominees for this years Turner Prize are David Shrigley, Laure Prouvost ,Tino Sehgal and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. 

I will be focusing on David Shrigley's work as it relates to the use of humour and the everyday.

David Shrigley is a British visual artist. He was nominated for his "Brain Activity" exhibition where he translated his thoughts of  everyday problems and solutions through the use of black humour.

One example of humour being used as a mechanism in his work is I'm Dead (2010). This depicts a stuffed Jack Russell standing on its hind legs holding a picket sign reading "I'm dead" in bold, black handwritten letters. This evokes bathos as it has blatantly stated the obvious of the dog's condition.

I'm Dead, David Shrigley (2010)

Bathos is created through the human stance of the dog which could also be considered in relation to Darwin's theory of evolution. 

Another example of humour being used as a mechanism in Shrigley's work is Life Model (2012). This was a room which had various easels set up in a circle around a sculpture of a naked man standing on a pedestal with over exaggerated features, e.g. elongated ears and nose, in front of a bucket which the "life model" pees into now and then as well as blinks.

Life Model, David Shrigley (2012)

When considering the pain of what a life model goes through, the depiction of the naked man (being able to blink and urinate into the bucket in front of him), it becomes comedic as well as crude. It also shows the comedic interpretation of sitting in a life drawing class as the over exaggerated features reflect how drawings in a life drawing class can be dis-proportioned when trying to draw from life. This allows us to see both perspectives of the life model and the life drawer. The viewers were asked to draw the sculpture and then display their drawing on a wall with various others, giving the illusion of a life drawing class. This can be associated with the everyday struggle of a artist or art enthusiast when considering the humour portrayed in a subject based way.

Overall, when considering Shrigley's "Brain Activity" exhibition, it is arguably humour that inspires the outlook that Shrigley promotes: we can find humour everywhere, even in the revered and "serious" atmosphere of the life drawing room.

After considering Roland Barthes' theory "The Death of the Author" regarding how we interpret art, I intend to apply the theory to various forms of art to see how we make meaning. In particular I will be looking at art which contains a certain kind of humour. 

An artist duo who focus on video that can be considered to derive humour from the everyday are John Wood and Paul Harrison. In their video installation 10x10 (2011), they focus on the routine of an everyday office job, and obscure the common perception of office work as bland. They experiment in the video with everyday office objects such as tables, chairs, paper shredders and various other equipment. They also physically experiment with the environment by interacting with the surroundings, e.g. in one moment of this video installation a man is standing in a room with a table and chair, where lighting is placed on the floor. The man then moves the table that knocks over the chair to smash one of the lights that is on the floor, thereby creating a comedic sequence out of the mundane.

              10x10, John Wood and Paul Harrison, 2011

By experimenting physically with the everyday environment, they bring forth various interpretations which may have not been associated with office work. By capturing the performance on video we can watch the action unfold rather than merely seeing a photograph of the end results. Perhaps the beauty of Harrison and Wood's work comes from the unexpected- finding humour in the unlikely sphere of the world of desk based work. Repetition is a key comedic device employed in their work and also arguably a factor of day to day work in an office environment.  

Another artist who focuses on sculpture that can be considered to derive humour from the everyday is Jeff Koons. His sculpture piece Michael Jackson and Bubbles (1988) is inspired by the reproduction of banal objects. This particular sculpture is inspired by kitsch ornaments which are used to decorate domestic interiors and homes. On the left hand side of this sculpture we first focus on the gold leaf plated porcelain shoe, then along Michael Jackson's leg to his hip where we focus on the monkey Bubbles with gold leaf plated porcelain flowers scattered around them, and then our eyes are lead up to Michael Jackson's face.

Michael Jackson and Bubbles, Jeff Koons (1988)

By making the sculpture on a large scale this potentially banal object is exaggerated, making a humorous or ironic statement on the value we place on ornament.

“The type of adulation, the type of support that’s given to pop artists -- this was the contemporary type of support that I thought that Christ would have received in his time,” explains Koons, who says he executed the sculpture in a Renaissance style, its triangular shape reminiscent of Michelangelo’s “Pieta” (www.bloomberg.com).

Chapel of Pieta, Michelangelo (1475-1564)

When considering the intertextuality of this piece it raises the debate as to whether famous people such as celebrities are idolised like religious figures.This can be interpreted as distasteful - Koons has recycled what we know to be a holy, religious piece into something ironic and possibly blasphemous. However when comparing Koon's interpretation of a Pieta to David LaChapelle's Pieta with Courtney Love(below) it can be argued that Koon's interpretation is more humorous and light hearted when compared to LaChapelle's. 

Pieta with Courtney Love, David LaChapelle, (2006)

This piece can be considered inappropriate in its appropriation  of the "Pieta", as the original Chapel of Pieta (1475-1564) depicts St Mary cradling her dead son, Jesus.  

Looking at this image it is apparant that LaChapelle has referenced the death of Kurt Cobain in this piece which can be taken to be offensive in a religious context when considering idolism but mainly be offensive due to the fact that Kurt Cobain took his own life and by depicting him in this way in this image can be interpreted as an inappropiate way to respond to a issue such as suicide. For example at the bottom of this picture is a line of building blocks which spell out the sentence "Heaven to Hell", which can be interpreted to be religious connotation as suicide is believe to be one of the deadliest sins which condemns you to hell. However when considering this insight about the piece from LaChapelle it can be considered that this piece is about the ultimate loss. 

"DLC Pieta is the strongest image in art. It represents the ultimate loss. So for me Catholics don’t own that idea. A mother losing a child is the ultimate loss. When I did the book [Heaven to Hell] with Courtney [Love], it was about my friend Brett, who was a bike messenger. He was addicted to heroin and had overdosed. He became a really good friend I met when I worked at Interview. That picture was haunting. I wanted to commemorate that loss. We have not progressed. That’s why we still need gimmicks. We decided to worship the painter. I like the shepherd image of Jesus. Condemning the Church, it’s like condemning a country. I will not let fundamentalists destroy what I know to be be a beautiful guide. I believe in love and forgiveness" (www.bombsite.com).

Comparing this piece to Koon's interpretation makes this work become a darker piece and resembles no obvious humour.