After World War I, the Dada movement targeted the aesthetic elitism of modern art and swept the globe with irreverent energy. This was the beginning of Anti-Art, a stance that was taken up again by avant-garde art movements after World War II, notably by George Maciunas and the international Fluxus collective that grew up around him. Its artists employed performance, wordplay and other game-like tactics to weave jokes and humor into their work. Meanwhile in Japan, artists such as Hi-Red Center brought humor to bear on the staid framework of the existing art world.

Artists:
Akasegawa Genpei
Ay-O
George Brecht
Robert Filliou
Hi-Red Center
Scott Hyde
George Maciunas
Nakanishi Natsuyuki
Ono Yoko
Jock Reynolds
Willem de Ridder
Shiomi Mieko
Ben Vautier
Robert Watts
Emmett Williams

2. Everyday Laughter

From the 1990s, contemporary art has tended to focus on discovering new values and tiny explosions of positive energy in everyday life. Tracing back to 1960s anti-art experiments in fusing art and life, it attempts to incite minor revolutions of awareness. The slant here is toward shifting or altering everyday norms only slightly, but in a way that undermines preconceptions, enlivening sensations and sensibilities that have become weighed down by convention and daily routine.

Artists:
Marcos Chaves
Isozaki Michiyoshi
Jeon Joonho
Matt Johnson
Patrick Killoran
Kimura Taiyo
Kurashige Jin
Peter Land
Mads Lynnerup
Trine Lise Nedreaas
Porntaweesak Rimsakul
Will Rogan
Peter Rösel
Roi Vaara
Watanabe Eiji
Erwin Wurm

3. The Flip Side of Laughter

The pluralistic societies resulting from globalization of the 1990s produce ever-growing opportunities for artists and viewers to encounter a wide variety of cultures. As well as needing to understand different peoples, cultures and beliefs, individuals are gaining greater awareness of their own cultural backgrounds. Laughter and humor play a substantial role in facilitating cross-cultural understanding, as artists take light-hearted swipes at their own cultures and the communities to which they belong.

Artists:
Aida Makoto
Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla
Carlos Amorales
Tamy Ben-Tor
The Blue Noses
Chen Shaoxiong + Ozawa Tsuyoshi
Gimhongsok
Jeon Joonho
Tim Lee
Robin Rhode
Torimitsu Momoyo
Wang Gongxin
Wang Nengtao
Sislej Xhafa
Zhou Tiehai

4. Deviant Laughter

Anything is possible in imaginary worlds! Here alternative universes - perhaps impossible scenes and stories - play out across diverse mediums from painting and drawing to video and installations. Animals and fictional beings often play a part in creating humor that enables us to laugh off the constraints of the mundane world. Visual and physical sensations turn our focus to the edges of possibility, encouraging us to think about what can be considered "real."

Artists:
John Bock
Olaf Breuning
Simon Evans
Gimhongsok
Rodney Graham
Carsten Höller
Imamura Tetsu
Isozaki Michiyoshi
Kaneuji Teppei
Peter Land
Christian Marclay
Okayama Naoyuki
Tanaka Koki
Erwin Wurm
Yamamoto Takayuki

Marcos Chaves
digital photo image from Untitled (Laugh Mask)
2005
Video, 1 min. 55 sec. (loop)
in collaboration with André Sheik (camera) and Leo Domingues (editing)
photo: André Sheik


Aida Makoto
video still from The video of a man calling himself Bin Laden staying in Japan
2005
video (mastered on DVD)
8min. 14sec.
Courtesy: Mizuma Art Gallery


Robin Rhode
Untitled / Street Light
2005
C-print
45 × 30 cm (×24)
Courtesy: Tucci Russo Studio Per I'Arte Contemporanea, Turin, and Perry Rubenstein Gallery, New York


Robin Rhode
Untitled / Street Light
2005
C-print
45 × 30 cm (×24)
Courtesy: Tucci Russo Studio Per I'Arte Contemporanea, Turin, and Perry Rubenstein Gallery, New York


Robin Rhode
Untitled / Street Light
2005
C-print
45 × 30 cm (×24)
Courtesy: Tucci Russo Studio Per I'Arte Contemporanea, Turin, and Perry Rubenstein Gallery, New York


Torimitsu Momoyo
Horizons
2004
Astroturf, styrofoam, PVC pipes, motor (modified toys), urethane resin
dimension variable


Kaneuji Teppei
White Discarge (Figure)
2005
plastic figure, plaster, rubber, gesso, mixed media
dimensions variable
Photo courtesy: Kodama Gallery, Osaka / Tokyo


Yamamoto Takayuki
Video still from Teaching Spoon Bending (Lesson 1, Sharjah Art Centre, UAE, 2003)
2001-
Video
7min.