Body Without Organs / Joke Without Laughs


(IMAGE: Untitled (Trap Door) 2013. Courtesy of FJORD Gallery)

 

In “Body Without Organs” the joke is definitely on us. We leave the comedy cellar bruised, foiled, and not unviolated. The asshole comedian preys on our quick assumptions and our vulnerable psyches. At every turn our expectations are exploited. You thought this was art?! It is junk! You thought this was junk?! It is art! Effectively creating a limbo territory where the viewer is never validated and the maestro is always one step ahead.

But yet we laugh.

But yet we are entertained.

Almost in spite of the pithy kitschy sticky film affixed to our body there are moments of intense pleasure. The shameful pleasure taken in the uncanny beauty of a ethereal towel ring or a faultless Mariah Carey CD. It is the simple imprudent joy as you reach down to grope and test the void of a hidden basement only to be turned away by the oldest of gags. Like a child, your intellect is an intimate betrayer and only your senses can be trusted. You realize only too late that black velvet devours all light and for the price of a giggle you have been turned a fool.

Soon, however, the laughter grows still and our tender feelings mend. Looking back, it is the performer that is left in the yawn of the silhouette and its glum embrace. The pun is their only companion in the empty din of the theatre. Abandoned, the comedian never leaves and that is why the clown is always the saddest–that is why the joke will always be on him.

 

 

“Body Without Organs”
New paintings by Sean Robert FitzGerald ( www.seanrobertfitzgerald.com )
Props by Alex Da Corte ( www.alexdacorte.com )

ON VIEW:
July 5 – 28

GALLERY HOURS:
Tuesday & Thursday: 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Saturday & Sunday: 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm

FJORD
2419 Frankford Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19125
www.fjordspace.com

 



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