"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
- Albert Einstein
 

User Login

Subscribe via Email

(Don't worry. It's safe. +

Unsubscribe at any time.) 

Ordering   Advanced search

Title:
The Read My Lips Series   Hot
Friday, 21 September 2007 ,  Written by Bob Davidson
image
The Absurd
Title: Read My Lips
Artist: Johan Soderberg
Type: Video
Broadcast news and the SNL of the late 80s/early 90s struck gold at the 1988 Republican National Convention when senior George Bush uttered the phrase "Read my lips". ...
<< Start < Prev 1 Next > End >>
Results 1 - 1 of 1

About "The Absurd"

When we think of the wondrous and the mysterious we often think of the deep and the profound. The deep and the profound obviously create a sense of wonder in us and move us in ways that we can't explain. But there is another aspect of wonder that often gets overlooked-the ABSURD. In the same way that there are things that move us because of their profundity and beauty, there are other things that move us to a joy that cannot be intellectualized, a sense of enjoyment that has no explanation. The author G.K. Chesterton describes this inability to explain these things that move us to joy as the "problem of pleasure."

"Why is sex fun? Reproduction surely doesn't require pleasure: Some animals simply split in half to reproduce, and even humans use methods of artificial insemination that involve no pleasure. Why is eating enjoyable? Plants and the lower animals manage to obtain their quota of nutrients without the luxury of taste buds. Why are there colors? Some people get along fine without the ability to detect color. Why complicate vision for all the rest of us?"

It is this pleasure and joy that we cannot begin to explain (why the lip gloss song is so catchy, why Strong Bad's randomness is so funny, why Sufjan's costumes and inflatable props make the concert so much more than a concert, etc.) that we hope you can experience in the Absurd section of this site. There are many times when exploring mystery and wonder expand our understanding... but there are also times when we must revel in the absurdity and let a piece of art, a song, a video, etc. simply be what it is and to enjoy it at that level.

Welcome to the Absurd section of rednow.