Charlie Dorf
Senior Editor
In theatre, there is the happy mask and the sad mask. Shakespeare wrote tragedies like Macbeth and Hamlet, yet he also wrote comedies like A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Love’s Labors Lost. Norman Rockwell painted pieces about the problems of segregation and racism, but also drew light-hearted pictures of somewhat caricatured American life. Humor, for many artists, is an effective means of adding meaning to a piece of art, taking the picture or photo beyond its simple aesthetic appeal.
For junior Cameron Lancaster, irony and satire are some primary means of communicating humor though arts. “Humorous cartoons and funny films are effective at communicating the humor or irony of a stereotype or a particular person, like the president in a political cartoon. Irony in a photo is a common way of communicating humor,” he said.
Cameron also feels that many student photographers are more focused on the look of their art than its message. “In high school, I definitely think people are a lot more focused on their photo looking cool, but I feel that even a photo of people at a party is effective at conveying a message through its funny subject matter. Photography needs to have good subject matter, be it serious or funny, not just a cool look.”
The importance of subject matter was stressed further by digital media teacher Jeanne McDonagh, who teaches her students the four C’s: composition, contrast, clarity, and content. For her, content is the most difficult and most important part of good art. “Content is key. The key is to draw the viewer in. When [my students]start out, they are focusing on the actual picture, but when they get to content they are focusing on the message,” she said. The effectiveness of humor, according to Ms. McDonagh, is based on relatable subject matter. “It has to hit home. Identifiable subject matter is important so people ‘get it’ right away.”
For Ms. McDonagh, portraying humor is often more difficult than portraying a serious message, as humor must be instantly relatable to the viewer, comparing humor in art to stand-up comedians constantly having to keep there acts fresh. “Humor is a lot harder. You have to get in there, and find something that is current and relatable,” she said.
Senior Allie Skaperdas also commented on the difficulty of effectively portraying humor. “I think humor is a lot harder since I think its harder to make someone laugh than simply make them convey understanding about a piece,” she said.
A human element is also an important aspect of conveying humor. “Humor in art is based of human personalities, traits, and language.” junior Katy Ho said. Cameron mirrored her attitude, commenting that capturing this human element is often more difficult than achieving a more serious tone, “You need a person or a living thing to produce humor, making it more difficult than simply taking a solemn photo or painting a landscape. To viewers, humor in a piece is very enjoyable, but you need a human element. They don’t laugh at buildings or trees,” he said.
An artist’s personality is often the key factor that determines whether or not that artist will be inclined to use humor. “It really depends on the person. For me, I’m a very happy person, so I try to portray my life through my art. I’m not going to produce something sad just for the sake of making a sad piece,” Ms. McDonagh said. For Allie, however, humor is not an effective means of portraying her creativity. “My creativity doesn’t come out with humor. I try to take simple things and portray them,” Allie said.
The ability to create a piece that portrays the artist’s feelings about a particular situation is important when trying to convey humor through art. “If you can capture a situation and convey it in such a way that anyone can understand how you felt at that moment, then you have succeeded,” Allie said.
For more humorous student art, visit https://nchscourant.comarts/2010/04/lol-gallery-exhibition-slideshow/
