I'm amazed at how often funny sculptures appear in collections of Pre-Columbian (i.e., before Columbus) art. The pictures I've been able to post here are just the tip of the iceberg. They get a lot funnier than this. The L.A. County Museum of Art has a terrific collection of funny, Virgil Parch-type sculptures, some of them more than 1500 years old. I'll post some pictures whenever I can find some good ones. You'll laugh out loud when you see them.
It's disconcerting to think that the earliest known peoples to appreciate formal comedy might have been the Central and South Americans. Among the 4 or 5 major nations only the Aztecs seemed to be serious and straight-laced about art. The others got jokes in every chance they could.
Maybe ancient South American comedy isn't better known because serious South Americans of the present are embarrassed by it. Or maybe the scuptures just don't seem like high art because they're funny. Anyway, my advice to time travelers going back to the golden age of that continent is to carry plenty of whoopee cushions and joy buzzers.
I'm amazed at how often funny sculptures appear in collections of Pre-Columbian (i.e., before Columbus) art. The pictures I've been able to post here are just the tip of the iceberg. They get a lot funnier than this. The L.A. County Museum of Art has a terrific collection of funny, Virgil Parch-type sculptures, some of them more than 1500 years old. I'll post some pictures whenever I can find some good ones. You'll laugh out loud when you see them.
It's disconcerting to think that the earliest known peoples to appreciate formal comedy might have been the Central and South Americans. Among the 4 or 5 major nations only the Aztecs seemed to be serious and straight-laced about art. The others got jokes in every chance they could.
Maybe ancient South American comedy isn't better known because serious South Americans of the present are embarrassed by it. Or maybe the scuptures just don't seem like high art because they're funny. Anyway, my advice to time travelers going back to the golden age of that continent is to carry plenty of whoopee cushions and joy buzzers.
18 comments:
Best funny sculpture EVER is in Rome: St. Orgasm by Bernini!
Ohh! And Michelangelo's misinterpretation of Moses with turd horns!
And Mannequin Pee!!!! They Belgians dress him up as celebrities and what not!!
Hey, great post! It's very funny to run into bizarre sculptures like these that exist in our world today without hesitation. Those ones are hilarious Kali! Check this one out, I ran into this in Prague, it blew my mind, I could barely leave the scene...
http://www.davidcerny.cz/EN/piss.html
Someone made a nice webpage about it too.
The Incas were a real laugh riot! They had a game very much like modern day soccer. After the final game in a tournament, they'd play a round with the losing team's coach's severed head substituting for the soccer ball!
Gotta love them Incas!
Steve
This is off topic, but I wanted to tell Kali that even though I think her new photo is very nice,I thought her 'serious' portrait was more interesting.
Gee, thanks Uncle Eddie - I never realized until now that the ancient Incas woshipped Andy Williams as their God!
Oh those are funny! I love the mask - it actually makes me want to smile and giggle. That character just has a contagious smile. It just looks like the character in the mask is thinking of a really funny joke.
Andy Williams?!?!?
The Aztecs really did seem to have a burr up their asses when it came to art, but I guess sacrificially ripping hearts out on a daily basis might jade your sense of humor a bit. I was a morbid little kid, though, so that's what made me interested in 'em. I guess I don't really see much humor in the art of other major pre-Columbian civilizations, unless you count the Olmec's giant heads as funny (which, now that I think about it, a giant disembodied head laying in the middle of a plaza IS pretty funny). The examples you found from the Incas are funny, though.
If you wanna see some really funny masks, check out the Songye tribe from central Africa. I think it's the Songye. I'm more sure about central Africa, though.
yep, Songye.
(sorry for the double post)
"Andy Williams?!?!?"
'We don't have to stop here.'
'OH YES WE DO.'
LOVE the top sculpture...the expression is fantastic. Any idea of the story behind it?
When the natives were slayed by the spanish conquerors they also had their pride ruined. People of european heritage still look down on the indians, who are ashamed of their identities often.
Here in Brazil it's not that bad because there was a lot of mixing and no one is sure of where the hell their ancestors came from. Unfortunately our natives' art is too primitive compared to that of the incas. I guess there's a minimum of civilization to be achieved before a people can spit out such cool stuff as the Incas did!
I think the smiling Buddhas with the great big guts and man boobs are funny.
Kali: Those are great pictures! Where did you find them? Is there a funny fine art site?
Eric: The smiling Bhuddas are beautiful and funny but the South American scuptures I've seen are much more varied and nuanced.
Pete: Andy Williams!? You're right!
Stiff: I looked up the Songye! Interesting stuff!
Gabriel: I could be mistaken but I think funny sculpure died out before the Spanish came.
Anne: Don't know the story.
I found them in my BRAIN. HAHAHA!
They were prescioent practical jokers too. Those Astronaut drawings and Glass Skulls and stuff really threw VonDanniken for a loop.
First time on your blog, long long long long time fan. Me and my fair lady recently did the Dallas Museum of Art, they had a Maya exhibit, a lot of it is very cool to copy and use as basis for some very weird drawings, a la Basil Wolverton, I like the alphabet especially. Check out the Cambodian art and alphabet, too.
These are all is very funny picture all picture is very funny.
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