Was Bill Gates too shy to call Windows Gates? Something about language makes Swedish performance artist Olof Olsson uncomfortable. Find out why in this video about language, humor, small pigs and big discoveries.
In this interview Olof Olsson talks about his interest in humor as an academic field, and in his search to discover what it is that makes things funny. Humor is between the brain and the body Olsson explains: “Laughter is a nervous reaction.”
The video includes clips of Olsson performing, playing with words and demonstrating how languages are like nonsensical living things, capable of creating wondrous things as well as confusion and resistance: “Something about language makes me uncomfortable.”
Olof Olsson (b. 1965) claims to be the product of charter tourism, since his Dutch mother and Swedish father met in Mallorca. Olsson studied philosophy, languages, and translation theory at Lund University — as well as art at Konstfack and The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. In the 1980s Olsson worked extensively as a pirate and community radio DJ, and since the early 90s with art in a wide range of formats. After 15 years as a conceptual artist, Olof Olsson started his unique kind of performance in 2007, combining elements from stand-up comedy, lectures and monologues. Olsson lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Olof Olsson was interviewed by Tine Colstrup at Pumpehuset, Copenhagen, 2013
Photographed by Klaus Elmer
Edited by Kamilla Bruus
Produced by Tine Colstrup and Christian Lund
Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.
Supported by Nordea-fonden.
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