“The great virtue of humour is that it is philosophising in action, a bright silver thread in the great duvet of existence” – Simon Critchley, philosopher

Comic possibilities of the everyday abound for the perceptive eye. This exhibition considers the comedy of mundane objects, cases of accidental or deliberate ‘misuse’ that can afford particularly liberating moments of laughter and joy. Stripped of their intended function, familiar objects become manifestly absurd, whilst questioning our own place in the order of things through their ineptitude.

The humour that springs from manipulating or referencing the mundane is paradoxically self-reflexive – appropriated objects suddenly appear anthropomorphic, our laughter becomes directed at ourselves and the intermittent absurdity of the human condition. Humble mass-produced things can also complete us, operating as extensions of our bodies or even stand-ins for the self, and there is, at times, something cathartic about the misuse and play involving these. Bringing together works by fifteen international artists, The Pleasure of Misuse explores the mechanics and psychology of humour in the everyday, considering its potential to heal and its power to disarm, creating the sense of complicity and the space for self-reflection amid these anxious times.

In part constructed as jokes by swapping words with objects, many works in the exhibition project the subversive quality of humour, its ability to render the status quo patently contingent, rather than absolute. Punching holes in the rational continuum of our daily lives, jokes and humorous objects are thus not unlike a philosophical enquiry – inviting us to step outside the situation and consider is from non-involved viewpoint. As Wittgenstein famously noted, “A serious and good philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes.”

Group exhibition of Glen Baxter, Ingrid Berthon-Moine, Appau Junior Boakye–Yiadom, Abraham Cruzvillegas, CFGNY, Melanie Ebenhoch, Peter Fischli & David Weiss, Gina Fischli, Graham Gussin, Holly Hendry, Ty Locke, Andy Holden, Jean-Luc Moulène, Amalia Pica, Aziza Shadenova and Richard Wentworth in London.

Co-curated by Indira Dyussebayeva-Ziyabek and Maria Hinel

Free