“Funny and frivolous are not the same thing, and sometimes humor can be the only way to approach something extremely serious.” —artist Nina Katchadourian
Join artist Nina Katchadourian for a discussion on humor and a close look at the ways artists use it in their work. The multi-disciplinary artist often uses humor as a device to bring viewers into her work, to help them become more attentive, or to call attention to fraught historical or cultural questions. Katchadourian will present projects of her own that utilize humor, and also introduce some theories of humor as described by various philosophers and critical thinkers.
As part of this workshop, participants will be asked to read a short essay before attending and then the group will apply these ideas to a selection of found videos that everyone will watch together. Katchadourian promises, “Although this workshop may sound boring, it will actually be extremely fun.”
Organized in conjunction with Jayson Musson: His History of Art.
Nina Katchadourian is an interdisciplinary artist whose work includes video, performance, sound, sculpture, photography and public projects. Her video Accent Elimination was included at the 2015 Venice Biennale in the Armenian pavilion, which won the Golden Lion for Best National Participation. In 2016 Katchadourian created “Dust Gathering,” an audio tour on the subject of dust, for MoMA. A traveling solo museum survey entitled “Curiouser” opened in 2017 at the Blanton Museum of Art, with an accompanying monograph. Katchadourian is Full Professor of Practice on the faculty of NYU Gallatin. She is represented by Catharine Clark Gallery and Pace Gallery and lives between Berlin and Brooklyn.
