The Happy Show

-By Stefan Sagmeister  

   

                This show (The Happy Show) is all about how one can be happy in their life, and the kind of happiness we can expect in our life time. There is a big question, “what the level that we can measure our happiness is?” There are many things and aspects in life. In every step of our life we experience new and unique things, so there are different kinds of happiness. It also depends on person who is looking through what prospective toward their life. For instance, one’s family, work, companion, friends, TV program, neighbor, free time, exercise, money and art…….. Happiness also depends on how one feel about sharing things with others, or just receiving from others. Happiness also depends on one’s thinking about surrounding objects. In brief, if one is happy then their life is happy, which means they sees everybody happy and it became Happy Show.

            All these things I describe above are somehow reflected in the work by Stefan Sagmeister, an artist and a creature of the show called “The Happy Show”. This is taking place at Chicago Cultural Center from July 13 – September 23.  He is a part time artist or I would love to say thinker of our society. Professionally, he work as an art and design director of music album covers and is known for these stuff that he do. He created a huge scene in the gallery space with his strong thoughts or represented somebody’s thought about happiness, such as, psychologists Daniel Gilbert, Steven Pinker and Jonathan Haidt; anthropologist Donald Symons; and several historians.

         

   There are many interesting and eye catching works in the gallery wall and floor, but one of them is all typography that he create is wonderful. People feel fresh to read these words because it makes you feel like you are doing conversation with Stefan face to face, which is very thoughtful and cleaver step he took. One of the attention grabber of his exhibition which I love is typography.

           “My Overall Level Of Satisfaction” is one of my best piece that Stefan created. It shows that whatever one should do in life but always need to set the level of satisfaction, so they feel happy in life. You are riding a bicycle and making an effort to roll its wheel, but you already set your mind that you are reaching nowhere. There you set your level of satisfaction and feel happy even after you are bicycling for an hours.