Be Silly
by Alexandra Molotkow
We saw the Yoko Ono exhibition at the MoMa yesterday. On the subway I finished House of Holes by Nicholson Baker, which I liked but found difficult to read in public, not just because of all the “thundertubes of dickmeat” passing through the “sloppy gates” but because I kept laughing out loud. It was sort of hot, but it wouldn’t have been hot at all if it weren’t so silly, if it weren’t silly it would have been excruciating.
When I got to the gallery, Naomi and Haley had a strange glow. It turned out they’d been in the bag for the Bag Piece. You’re supposed to get into the bag and then just do stuff in the bag so that people see the bag doing stuff. You are asked to remove your clothes, but you don’t have to, and some people get in and just scream. Haley and Naomi had kept their clothes on, which I thought was cheating, but the hot guy who helped them into the bag was now pantsless in the bag, rubbing against the floor. You could see outside the bag from inside and Naomi suggested standing in front of it and making a jerkoff gesture, just as a thank you.
The Bag is supposed to erase our outward characteristics so that “you become just a spirit or soul,” in Yoko’s words, “and you can talk soul to soul.” That sounds great, but you can’t really say things like that, so you have to get everyone to hang out in a bag.
Later that night, my friend Charles came on Gchat and asked, “What’s the word for the emotion when you enjoy watching zombies and scary things dance and have fun?” He meant like Thriller and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and I like that kind of thing, too, but I never thought liking it had a name. “It’s a distinct emotion for me,” he said. “I just love the thought of zombies dancing. The feeling is like joy.”
I would like a word for Serious Silly, which is the best possible attitude. I think if you take life seriously you should present unseriously, because when you’re really into being here you want to laugh all the time. “Silliness is just a mode actually,” Charles said. “It’s just a register.”
There is a big difference between silliness and goofing off. Harmony Korine sure seemed like a goof-off when I saw him interviewed and all he did was sweat and fidget and giggle like a garbage teen. (The only memorable part was his anecdote about Ol’ Dirty Bastard.) Ariel Pink is a goof-off whose songs are totally fine, then he ruins them by pretending not to try. That’s as bad as people who fake-laugh during karaoke, and it makes me feel like Jigsaw from Saw. Take a bite out of life, you eels. You have to care so much it’s stupid.