The Uncanny Nature of Nonsense

By Stephen Gibb

Published by the author Copyright: Stephen Gibb 2013

The Uncanny Nature of Nonsense

Nonsense has always held a special place for me in the world of literature, art and even in simple conversation. I am constantly fascinated in the places the mind takes you when you are confused, confronted by non-sequitur or bamboozled by a puzzling narrative. I love the moment of registering a miss-heard comment in the logical mind and having the logic melt away in confounding bafement when the context does not support the architecture. I love walking out of a theatre, wondering What just happened? as my mind scrambles for meaning, desperately grasping for vaporous straws in an attempt to hold reality in check. I love the moment of realization that the wool has been pulled over my eyes, the rug pulled from under my feet, the foundation crumbling underneath and the explosion of possibilities that ll my head in trying to make sense. Instead of trying to make sense, Id like to try and make nonsense. Sense has a static sort of It is what it is limitation that only a postmodernist could dele. I want to spark things that ignite on their own, instead of pedantically holding a lantern toward a dark but well-worn path. I want to stimulate ideas in others that may not be an extension of my own. I want to start the internal dialogue rather than conrm my own biases through the

response of others. The conveyance of my thoughts is not a system designed to probe and feedback, but rather a cage with its door left open The study of the mind and brain function has shown that humans have an innate need to give meaning to the things they perceive. When confronted by something unfamiliar and confusing human minds kick into overdrive as brain activity searches for stabilization by comprehension. If there is no logic, no coherent meaning to comprehend a lot of closed doors in the imagination get opened and the potential for discovery is amplied. I imagine a primitive human, encountering the unknown with a regularity and frequency that had to be mastered to ensure their survival. I think in this sense that coping with nonsense is an evolutionary process that has gone somewhat dormant but still functions when challenged. Childhood is fraught with gibberish and nonsense, whether deliberate or a simply a by-product of youthful ignorance. Lack of knowledge and understanding often makes a child view things as confusing and disorienting. Until there is an understanding of basic concepts the world is full of weirdness for a child. Then there is the deliberate nonsense, typical of nursery rhymes and childrens verse, which may be an extension of traditional story-telling and songs being obfuscated by the passage of time: What once made sense now is anachronistic and archaic. Sometimes a moral message still lters through but for the most part nursery rhymes about anthropomorphized kitchen utensils and animals are supernatural and silly, from a place where nonsense is most comfortable. Consider the profound impact that Lewis Carrolls Alice has had on popular culture. Essentially a collection of nonsensical episodes strung together in a narrative, the debt owed to what Carroll spawned in two short books is immeasurable. It is the quintessential work of nonsense, written mid-19th century, close on the heels of Edward Lears A Book of Nonsense, and from the same era that produced the satirical humour magazine Punch which also seemed to relish silliness as an art form. When art adopted nonsense, the world of Dada emerged. A potent inuence on

the next 100 years of art history, Dada was essentially conceived as a reaction to the absurdities of the First World War. It became the anything goes movement that began as a tongue in cheek commentary and ended as a high-brow concept of art making, which even helped give birth to its ethereal cousin, Surrealism. The history of the past century of art is all well documented, and not the subject I am pursuing, but to give nonsense some context I mention these things in passing. It is my hope to revive the power of nonsense and bring some pinkness back into the cheeks. Another example of the impact of nonsense was the writing of I Am the Walrus by John Lennon (see page 20). Written as a response to a letter from a fan who claimed that Beatles lyrics were being discussed and analyzed in his class at school, Lennons intentions were to ummox any analysis with this new song. In spite of his efforts, the totally nonsensical lyrics beg for understanding yet stand deantly beyond the gates of comprehension. This is what Im after. This is my goal. To rattle the dried beans of conformity and complacency scattered on the oorboards of so many stagnant imaginations. I want to challenge people to explore and probe their own ideas by upending the rational order of things and letting the chaotic dust fall into a new order of logic. The power of nonsense is not passive. It must be actively work on. It forces the perceiver to think and not just react on an aesthetic level. By combining a certain level of aesthetics and a certain ratio of nonsense I think the perceiver can be drawn into a world they may normally skirt around. When there is no coded message to decipher, any inhibitions about ascertaining the proper or intended meaning should also vanish. Of course there may be associative meanings that may be unintentional in the construction of nonsense; they should not overwhelm the piece with any thematic cohesion. There should be a degree of wonder and obvious confusion to prepare the viewer for the journey which must be fearlessly met without prejudice. From this point the exploration begins. The last thing to go through your mind as you drown in confusion is usually profound.

This is the answer to the question that everyone seems to want to know: Where do your ideas come from?

Opening the chocolate door that leads to the room where my ideas come from

When people accuse me of being too white bread, I hope this is what they mean...

Darkness falls on the white bread world

I was thinking of how funny the term going to hell in a hand basket was...and is.

Sideshow distraction on the proverbial trip to hell in a hand basket

The golden age of sh and archery.

Evolution and exploitation of tools

My attempt at total nonsense backres and obviously makes perfect sense.

The time-tested genius of absurdity

10

OK, I want to be on the cupcakes team.

Invocation and ritual dance of the triumphant confections

11

I dont even know...

Does a genetically modied mouse dream of electric cheese?

12

What goes through the mind of a pig with human genes?

Musings of a genetically modied pig on the eve of his organ harvest

13

Print is dead, print is dead... so why is everyone still reading?

The dethroned prince of prints makes a bad impression

14

Beware of tortoises bearing cake...

The solid chocolate bunny announces the arrival of the Trojan birthday cake

15

Ancient idea of how greed is punished.

Greed boils in oil for eternity

16

Ancient idea of how gluttony is punished.

Gluttony gets his just desserts

17

A boy with a pickle for a head. What could be cooler than that? Well, maybe the savage looking onion.

Adventures of Pickleboy in the land of nonsense

18

How about a sheep with wolf insides?

The lingering after effects of a well-played deception

19

I am the walrus. Unfortunately not my idea...

I am the walrus

20

Crazy stuff goes on at the circus when everyone leaves...or so Im told.

Secret agenda of the midnight circus

21

Ever just want to hang with your friends and roast some pocketwatches over an open ame?

Unforgiving nature of time well-wasted

22

OK, so sometimes I get a little serious, preachy, pedantic...

Unforgiving nature of time well-wasted

23

I know exactly how that die feels...

The pervasive randomness of chance

24

I dont believe in fate but obviously this guy does...

Fate arrives at its nal destination

25

The demise of the dodo was largely in part due to their unfullled desire to have human hands.

Meteoric rise and fall of the majestic red dodo

26

Damn, the universe is big.

Contemplating innity

27

Time has no reverence for the past.

Time desecrates the fossil record

28

All the worlds a player and we are merely stages.

Theatre in Reverse

29

How would Freud psychoanalyse this?

The elephant in Freuds room

30