“badthingshappen…”
“badthingshappeneverydaybutnottome.com” is an ongoing web project that consists of a collaged, found-footage video and a collection of screenshots. The original footage and images are taken from Instagram humor handles and then edited to remove the funny parts of the videos. The leftover clips are reworked into a narrative, which shifts as more content is added to Instagram and the video is updated. The still images featured in the project are also taken from Instagram slapstick humor handles. Together, these images and video serve to critique complacent leisure while also considering its subversive potential.
“badthingshappen…” is part of my ongoing research of power, resistance, and authenticity. Specifically, my work focuses on resistive strategies that confuse or evade recognition, and utilize uncertainty, concealment, and manipulated reality. This body of work is informed by anthropology, political philosophy, and comedy. In the 1970s and 80s, comedian and performer Andy Kaufman blurred reality in order to force his viewers to constantly re- evaluate his identity. Similarly, “anti-humor,” which consists of ironic sincerity when a joke is expected, challenges notions of what we consider to be funny. Ultimately, I seek to expose that various types of humor are indeed subversive in that they challenge the idea of truth.