Writing can sometimes be hard to get started. You’ve got an idea you think is pretty cool and straightforward and you set about writing. As you slog through the words and putting the ideas together, after a number of fits and starts, interrupted by unproductive clicks into the world-wide abyss (with cookies it does indeed stare back at you) you finally reach a point where the ideas work themselves out. Often it turns out that the idea you started with is only a minor player in the finished product, and that’s where I find myself now. The idea I started with is now coda to a different project. And that project is about our modern workspaces. (I know, that was a long walk to get here—you indulgence is appreciated).
As you may know, one of my preoccupations is with the idea and practice of work. My work into humor is all about finding ways to make work better and not the soul-sucking slog it is for many of is. So I focus a good bit on how we can make our experience of work better by using humor. I’m interested on the mental space of work—shocking for a philosopher to be sure—and how we can change some of how we encounter and respond to work by using humor and laughter. But that idea that I had, the one we’ll come to in a moment, pushed me to start thinking about the physical spaces of work and when that happened, things just sort of fell into place for this post.
One of the first threads that was kicking around the back of the ole’ brain-box has to do with modern architecture and specifically minimalism (I promise this will all come together). Personally, I’m a big fan of modern design. I like the open spaces, the clean lines, the feel of light and air, the space. But there’s a worry, pointed out here, that the minimalism in modern design strips away all personality from our spaces. It does this through the removal of details and as a result it makes the space less warm, less inviting, and overall less human. What’s more, in certain forms of architecture, decoration has a role, it literally has spaces and places designed to accept elements of decoration into the space. And in some cases we found ways to introduce decoration as a result of the architecture and design. From the spandrels in architecture that become home to the people depicted in relief
or the geometrical fills of mosques,
these spaces were used to express the particular personality or style of the makers or community.
This lacking of space or opportunity for decoration is simply missing from modern architecture. As a result, when a sculpture or piece of decoration is placed in the modernist space it will often feel out of place. It can feel like an intruder or stick out. Rather than adorning, accentuating, and giving the space more character, it dominates or interrupts the space. Let it be known that I am not an art historian, nor am I anyone who could be said to have any real flair for design. I know what I like—I think. But as I have experience in buildings with a more modern minimalist flair, this criticism seems absolutely spot on. But this doesn’t mean that modern minimalism is bad, it just might be barreling toward being so clean that it the design becomes sterile. And I have to admit, I at times feel this.
All of this was, as I said, kicking around in my head, when I happened upon another set of ideas inspired by a quote from the late twentieth century artist, Jean-Michele Basquiat.
“Art is how we decorate space. Music is how we decorate time.” This quote from Basquiat has proven quite popular. It has found a home on sites like Goodreads and reddit. I’ve seen it come across my social media feeds a few times. Basquiat’s quote has inspired others. One redditor extends the idea by finding dance to be an activity that decorates both space and time—a nice little riff. The quote has been interpreted to be both meaningful and deeply insightful, as well as shallow and vapid. One could complain that the quote, if taken to be a complete description of music and art is essentialist and short-sighted, but I doubt it was ever meant in such a way. I should think the quote to be one intended to highlight some aspects, important aspects, of both music and art. I suggest that we take the quote as one that encourages our thought about art and music and use it as a springboard to talk about one of my favorite subjects, humor and how this talk of modern minimalism and the lack of decoration relates to humor. So here’s a little tease of next week’s post.
If art is how we decorate space, and music how we decorate time, then humor is a way we decorate the mind. I’ll leave you with that. Till next time, laugh often and much.