for the “Happy Show”, New York 2005/2012, installation of ten rubber ball dispensers, approx. 250 x 250 cm. (DRAX)

Provenance:
Stefan Sagmeister, New York

Exhibited:
Stefan Sagmeister. The Happy Show, ICA travelling exhibition, Philadelphia 2012; The Jewish Museum, New York 2013; MAK, Vienna 2015/16; Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt am Main 2016; Museum für Gestaltung, Zurich 2017; MAAT, Lisbon 2018

Lit.:
Stefan Sagmeister. The Happy Show, MAK, Wien 2015, , published by the Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, pp. 58/59

10 rubber ball dispensers measure visitor satisfaction on a 1-10 scale: the lower the bar graph over a machine, the less comfortable participants feel.

What is happiness? How to find it? And what do we really do to be happy? The Happy Show, one of his most iconic projects, is the result of intense research carried out for over ten years about the concept of happiness.

Through the means of video, infographics, sculptures and interactive installations, as well as humor, provocation and interaction, this exhibition takes us on a journey through Sagmeister’s mind and his innovative, seemingly simple perspective on how we can be happier.

He appeals to a more active approach to our search for happiness – including the idea that it can be trained, just like we train our body. (MAAT Lisboa)