Thursday, September 19, 2013

The Happy Show - Leporati

Happiness is obtainable by EVERYONE. It’s comes down to expectations and your perception of reality you’ve built. So I truly believe if anyone is unhappy, it’s their own god damn fault. Stefan Sagmeister explored the meaning of happiness in his exhibit displayed at the Chicago Cultural Center entitled, The Happy Show. He shares some great observations about what he defines as happiness and some interesting facts delivered to guest in a life size infograph with interactive displays.

Any place that gives away free candy is my favorite place to be, and last week the Sagmeister exhibit had free candy. After turning the dial on the large gumball-machine-happiness scale I tossed the gum into my mouth and proceeded to the next display. As I learned about gay sex and straight sex and married sex and single sex I started to realize that the sweet chewing gum and the sex statistics was a clash of senses. However, the rest of the exhibit didn’t fade with the flavor of the gum. His Daniel Johnston like handwriting had a lot of very interesting and insightful facts. One, about society, stuck with me over the past few days.


I hear many people state that things are getting bad in the world. They reminisce about, “the good old days.” People sometimes say that our morals are worse than ever. These people; are idiots. What made me truly happy while leaving this exhibit and what I hope others can take away with them is that; our world isn’t falling apart and morals aren’t being destroyed. Sagmeister had a great quote on the wall sharing with everyone that this time we live in is the greatest it has ever been. He says that the 20th century, even with the atrocities from Hitler, Stalin and Mao, was better than the previous century. We’ve cured deadly diseases, decreased the death rate from pregnancy, and strive to share equal rights to all! I have so much hope for the future. I left this exhibit with that nugget of inspiration in my head. While I’m writing this I’m reflecting on how happy I am to be living right now. 

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