What Art Of the 20th Century Has Given You the Most Joy?
...over you lifetime?
I'm looking for specific artists or works of art that sparked the most joy for you...not a genre like, say, "rock & roll."
And if possible, give us all a taste of that joy.
For me:
Monty Python
Nothing makes me laugh more than these 6 insane English (and one American) men. The pure joy I get out of the completely silliness that is The Philosopher's Football Match or the Dead Parrot sketch is still, 50 some-odd years later, the stuff that makes me collapse in laughter most of all
Their movies, their solo work, their reunions, everything. I remember back in the early days of the Internet when CD-Roms were popular, Python has the best one. It was an absolute joy to explore. And very funny.
Broken YouTube Link***
Obviously, I will be posting more 20th Century art that brings me joy to this day
What's some of yours?
Fun fact: Salvador Dali designed the Chupa Chups logo.
Joe Dante
Star Trek
While some iterations are better than others, I love them all. I love the philosophy and positivity and diversity behind the whole thing. It's just so much fun, with wonderful characters.
The song "I got the Power."
The Movie Jurrasic Park
Lol weren't we already?
David Bowie
Growing up, I always had Bowie to listen to and look at as the world's resident "art rock " god....he was always interesting, always evolving, always fun. Loved his acting, too.
There's not a bad thing I could say about him. I cried when he died.
Hitchcock films, and though I can't quite select one, the poetry of Frost, Stevens, and Pound. Novels of Joyce and Gilbert Sorrentino.
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The ZZ Top Eliminator music videos: Legs, Sharp-Dressed Man, Gimme All Your Lovin'.
They are everything I want in a music video - great songs, fun stories and mythology, wonderfully directed and edited. I grin every time I see one.
Love the ZZ Top cameo in Back to the Future 3.
Kurt Cobain trying to battle his demons
I still haven't watched this interview. Why would I want to sit around crying for a half hour?
There is a lot to choose from within a century. But my answer to this specific question is easily The Simpsons. In college, I had the first 100 episodes or so dubbed on VHS. After the dorms, my roommate and I agreed not to get cable and we saw every episode at least 20 times.
It's easy to forget how revolutionary it was. This little throw away sketch on Tracy Ullman, made by a guy who drew comics for alt weekly papers. It had a charm, but it is surprising someone would greenlight a whole TV show from it. What a miracle that it even exists. Then, this talent that was perfectly suited to the task just happened to fall into place, from the voice actors, to the writers to the animation director.
The first prime time animated show since The Flintstones. A non-kids cartoon. A show with dozens of regular characters that covered every aspect of their little universe, and the United States and humanity. It was highly unusual to portray the religious lives of characters on TV. It savagely BBQed religion one minute, then showed how important a person's spiritual life can be in the next. One of the greatest satirical works we've ever produced.
Perhaps because it was "just a cartoon" it was allowed to say things about capitalism, consumerism, advertising, the police and so forth that normally are not said in mainstream American culture. I've seen it called "post modern" because of the fact that it constantly subverts itself. And it does do that. However, I've heard of 2 traditions of satire dating back to Rome. One is the satirist putting himself on a pedestal and pointing down at everyone else's flaws. In the other tradition, the satirist recognizes that pretty much all of humanity is ridiculous and our existence is kind of absurd. And I think the Simpsons is less post-modern than it is part of that tradition.
Recently, certain types are really hung up on "punching" up or down, which assumes the first tradition of the omniscient satirist roasting his inferiors. But the second tradition isn't punching at all. It makes fun, but is ultimately a compassionate approach. The Simpsons laughs at the rich, politicians, cops, the military as well as unions, teachers, addicts, immigants, workers and the poor. But it does so with a deep understanding that ultimately leads to love. As the show occasionally points out in a pomo self-subversive way, Homer is a person most of us would find intolerable in real life. But we love him. We love Moe, the bigot. Barney, the fat drunkard. I mean, just the little film Barney makes for the film festival... it is kind of a parody of artsy fartsy film, but it is also kind of great and touching.
A good Simpsons episode is vastly better than the entire run of almost any other TV show ever made.
The ZZ Top Eliminator music videos: Legs, Sharp-Dressed Man, Gimme All Your Lovin'.
They are everything I want in a music video - great songs, fun stories and mythology, wonderfully directed and edited. I grin every time I see one.
In a similar vein, early David Lee Roth videos when Vai, Sheehan and Bissonette were the band. My timeline might be off, but I think it started with Just A Gigolo, which was pretty wild on its own. It’s almost shocking the amount of stuff going on in that video. So many sets and costumes and “cameos”. California Girls was tamer but still a fun.
But those are nothing compared to the coked out insanity that was Goin’ Crazy and Yankee Rose. They were a lot in the mid-80s, and they’re still a lot now. I’m almost shocked that they let them get away some of the **** in the intro films before the actual songs start.
Something that help to shape my youth and early adult life is the appreciation and interaction with motorsports... the favorite of which is the BRM v16 motor.
there is no way, that anyone living in the early 1950's, just post WWII, could hear this motor run 'on cam' and not be shaken to their core.
turn it up!
for anyone that has never been physically exposed in closed proximity to a Top Fuel Dragster, a Formula 1 car, or just about any other top tier motorsport back in the day, has not really lived a complete life.
There is a lot to choose from within a century. But my answer to this specific question is easily The Simpsons. In college, I had the first 100 episodes or so dubbed on VHS. After the dorms, my roommate and I agreed not to get cable and we saw every episode at least 20 times.
My best friend during/after high school had just-come-in-without-knocking privileges at my place. If I wasn't working, I could expect him to walk through the door no later than 4:59 to catch the weekday reruns on Fox—a tradition that went on for years.
Architecture of all sorts. Fallingwater, Disney Concert Hall, Salk Institute, Dancing House in Prague. So for the 20th century, the work of Wright, Louis Kahn, and Frank Gehry.
Me at the Salk Institute.
And a car I get to drive. My friend's Aston-Martin Superleggera.
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Another one popped into my mind and it may actually be my absolute favorite art of the 20th century since it came of age as I did and was a key part of my generation. Honorable mention to Mad Magazine which this cover parodies.
The National Lampoon Magazine
But I miss a lot about the 60's and 70's and 80's
I miss magazines in general not just National Lampoon and Mad. I miss AM radio DJs and programming and I miss album covers and liner notes.
1971 was a good year. I graduated that year from high school. My life has been nothing but a complete joy since.
Class of '71 has to be the best ever since it includes you, me and John Cole. Likely the greatest class ever 😀 I'm guessing all 3 of us had a pretty good run!
Most of my good friends graduated from the same high school that year. We've known each other since we were 14 years old, and a couple from grade school even.
I think that's a pretty good run.
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