Sad Clown, Mad Clown, Bad Clown catalogue

S ad C lo w n , Ma d C l o Bad Clo wn A dam Ge c zy 25 JANUARY - 24 FEBRUARY 2019 UMBRELLA STUDIO CONTEMPORARY ARTS

w, n

In the so-called age of post-democracy, of the fizzle-out of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, of corporate megalopolies, the failed “hope” of Obama, and now the astonishing rise of Trump, the clown is needed more than ever as a symbol and a cipher of defiance in despair. He embodies an age when idiocy is rewarded, when platitudes are lauded, and a world is disordered. At the same time, he is a figure of resistance, one who fails to crumble through the force of his own whimsy and hysteria, who creates his own world that holds a mirror to absurdity and ignorance.

The clown is used here not only as a universal trope for a contemporary Zeitgeist, but one also exploring the father-son bond. Here “clown”, in the metonymic sense, is used as a vehicle for expression, where masks are used more to disclose than to cover.

The clown guise brings to the fore a little boy in all his precocity, while also revealing the expressions, and vulnerabilities of children, as distinct from the forced universality of adult life. In a way, these sequences and images may teach us that the clowning of children has something to teach us of the clowning all around us that masquerades as normalcy. n

C lo wn 1. (Theatre) a comic entertainer, usually grotesquely costumed and made up, appearing in the circus

2. (Theatre) any performer who elicits an amused response 3. someone who plays jokes or tricks 4. a person who acts in a comic or buffoon-like manner 5. a coarse clumsy rude person; boor

6. archaic a countryman or rustic

vb (intr) 7. to perform as a clown 8. to play jokes or tricks

9. to act foolishly

[C16: perhaps of Low German origin; compare Frisian klönne, Icelandic klunni clumsy fellow] ‘clownery n ‘clownish adj ‘clownishly adv ‘clownishness n

Noun

1

2

Verb

1

clown - a rude or vulgar fool buffoon, fool, muggins, saphead, tomfool, sap a person who lacks good judgment clown - a person who amuses others by ridiculous behaviour merry andrew, buffoon, goof, goofball comedian, comic - a professional performer who tells jokes and performs comical acts harlequin - a clown or buffoon (after the Harlequin character in the commedia dell’arte) jester, motley fool, fool - a professional clown employed to entertain a king or nobleman in the Middle Ages whiteface - a clown whose face is covered with white make-up zany - a buffoon in one of the old comedies; imitates others for ludicrous effect clown - act as or like a clown antic, clown around jest, joke - act in a funny or teasing way

clown noun 1. comedian, fool, comic, harlequin, joker, jester, prankster, buffoon, pierrot, dolt, a classic circus clown with a big red nose and baggy suit 2. fool, dope (informal), jerk (slang, chiefly U.S. & Canad.), idiot, ass, berk (Brit. slang), prat (slang), moron, twit (informal, chiefly Brit.), imbecile (informal), ignoramus, jackass, dolt, blockhead, ninny, putz (U.S. slang), eejit (Scot. & Irish), thicko (Brit. slang), doofus (slang, chiefly U.S.), lamebrain (informal), numbskull or numbskull I could do a better job than those clowns in Washington. verb 1. (usually with around) play the fool, mess about, jest, act the fool, act the goat, play the goat, piss about or around (taboo slang) He clowned a lot and anatagonised his workmates. Stop clowning around and get some work done.

Adam Geczy teaches at Sydney College of the Arts, the University of Sydney.ÊŠn)

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