The Case for Spectacle
Fri, 02 May 2008
An expanded excerpt from the Arts Strategy (April 2008) I wrote for Devonport (England) as part of my commission from Devonport Regeneration Community Partnership and Plymouth City Council.
It seems illogical, but sometimes spectacle can be so bad it’s good. And when that happens it becomes a “negative superlative”. Mademoiselle de Bovet knew the power of the negative. Hostess of a popular salon in 19th century Paris, she was admired for her wit, not her looks. Meeting her for the first time, Oscar Wilde was caught off-guard. She was plainer than he’d been warned. She demanded Wilde’s confirmation of her negative self-assessment. “Am I not the ugliest woman in all France?” Wilde regained his composure. He bowed low. “Au monde, madame, au monde”. Mademoiselle de Bovet was better than ugly. She was the ugliest woman “in the world”. A negative superlative.
The realization a “bad” event can also be a negative superlative goes a long way to explain just how powerful spectacle can be when it is a shared community experience. “Moose Murders” was performed on Broadway twenty-five years ago. Not only was it panned by critics, it was universally deemed the worst play in Broadway history. Reviews included statements such as “titanically bad”, “indescribably bad,” and “would insult the intelligence of an audience consisting entirely of amoebas.” But rather than turn the play into a forgotten footnote of live theatre, “Moose Murders” became a legend. The show closed immediately, but in the words of its playwright it turned into “a negative superlative”. It entered folklore. The small number of people who were audience members has “multiplied beyond physical possibility, like those who claim to have seen the Beatles at Shea Stadium.” Actors who performed in the play are proud to highlight the show in their biographies.
The moral is simple. Narrative, stories, performance and spectacle are more memorable than objects. Public art commissioners should consider this when making decisions for the public realm. Objects get old and are eventually taken for granted, but experiences live on. A “bad” shared experience can be better for the health of a community than a “good” work of (permanent) public art.
Daniel Gilbert is Harvard University’s “Dr Happiness”. A social psychologist, he has spent decades researching what makes people happy. He confirms that shared experiences are the key to happiness. He uses Bogart’s famous line from the movie “Casablanca” as an example of how a shared experience is worth more than any object. Knowing he may never again see Ilsa, the character played by Ingrid Bergman, Bogart’s Rick reinforces their experiences. “We’ll always have Paris”, he tells her. Their separation was a negative, but Bogart’s Rick makes certain she will look back and recognise their story as a negative superlative.
- Share:
- References (0)
