I mentioned you in my Down With Fun lecture in Malmo, yer lordship. I wondered what values might rush into the void if we could somehow remove "fun" as our society's ultimate good, and mused that these alternative values might be things like joy, pleasure, difficulty, beauty, political engagement or dandyism (which is damned hard work to orchestrate, and a vocation, not a "bit o' fun").
Did I miss the inevitable discussion as to how we draw the line between fun and pleasure/joy? I'd assume that pleasure might be described as a more nourishing, profound form of fun? Perhaps fun is a momentary diversion that leaves one amused but unmoved, but joy and pleasure might cause one's personal emblems to clang loudly in one's head...
And yes: primpin' ain't easy. Primpin' and failin' doubly so. Such is "ishism"!
I'm assuming that Inglehart Value Map would place fun in the traditional / survival scatter while the Western decadent modernists would accept it as a lifestyle of self expression and creativity. Oui!
The Malmo Torso has more fun and pleasure than that giant pickle in London.
Pfff, but all that the Torso alludes to in nature is the stem of a plant. The Gherkin, on the other hand could be a pickle, a funny-shaped gourd, a really ugly erection, or any number of slightly unsightly objects.
But maybe they're both visual jokes tailored to their surroundings. The Gherkin is elegant and cutting edge and yet it looks like a giant dildo on the skyline, perfectly suited to the ugliness of London architecture and business culture, while the Torso is busy tricking you into thinking it's something it's not: about to collapse; a famous building in Tuscany; a giant stick of fennel; impossible; a metaphor for the Scandinavian habit of dangling their ideal (but unattainable) societies in front of the rest of the world. Your eye is never going to be satisfied, and you'll never "get to Denmark".
Of course, if you find dandyism "fulfilling", you may be doing it wrong--which of course I am, because I do (Inhabiting an archetype is fun, but synthesizing it is pleasurable?)
I'm keen to visit Scandinavia, including Sweden--it's been kind to me (YKKY, et al). However, I may not meet their "urinal index" (the height at which the urinals are set in their airports). Had a similar problem in South Africa. Nowhere for a poor midge to pee; even the shrubs were too high.
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-11-25 09:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-11-25 10:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-11-25 11:50 pm (UTC)Did I miss the inevitable discussion as to how we draw the line between fun and pleasure/joy? I'd assume that pleasure might be described as a more nourishing, profound form of fun? Perhaps fun is a momentary diversion that leaves one amused but unmoved, but joy and pleasure might cause one's personal emblems to clang loudly in one's head...
And yes: primpin' ain't easy. Primpin' and failin' doubly so. Such is "ishism"!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-11-26 12:02 am (UTC)Fun X - Pleasure Y axis
Date: 2007-11-26 01:05 am (UTC)would place fun in the traditional / survival scatter while the Western decadent modernists would accept it as a lifestyle of self expression and creativity. Oui!
The Malmo Torso has more fun and pleasure than that giant pickle in London.
Re: Fun X - Pleasure Y axis
Date: 2007-11-26 05:43 pm (UTC)But maybe they're both visual jokes tailored to their surroundings. The Gherkin is elegant and cutting edge and yet it looks like a giant dildo on the skyline, perfectly suited to the ugliness of London architecture and business culture, while the Torso is busy tricking you into thinking it's something it's not: about to collapse; a famous building in Tuscany; a giant stick of fennel; impossible; a metaphor for the Scandinavian habit of dangling their ideal (but unattainable) societies in front of the rest of the world. Your eye is never going to be satisfied, and you'll never "get to Denmark".
Hmm, I've been reading too much imomus.
Re: Fun X - Pleasure Y axis
Date: 2007-11-26 09:01 pm (UTC)Actually there's a big bridge to Denmark in sight of the Torso!
Re: Fun X - Pleasure Y axis
Date: 2007-11-27 12:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-11-26 04:32 am (UTC)I'm keen to visit Scandinavia, including Sweden--it's been kind to me (YKKY, et al). However, I may not meet their "urinal index" (the height at which the urinals are set in their airports). Had a similar problem in South Africa. Nowhere for a poor midge to pee; even the shrubs were too high.
Urinal index. Now that would be a fun chart.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-11-26 08:30 am (UTC)