page_title: Surreal humour
section_title: Relationship with dadaism and futurism
hierarchical_section_title: Surreal humour / Relationship with dadaism and futurism
caption_attribution_description: Urinal "readymade" signed R. Mutt; early example of "Dada" art. A paradigmatic example of found-art. Photograph by Alfred Stieglitz. Captions read: "Fountain by R. Mutt, Photograph by Alfred Stieglitz, THE EXHIBIT REFUSED BY THE INDEPENDENTS"
context_page_description: Surreal humour is a form of humour predicated on deliberate violations of causal reasoning, producing events and behaviours that are obviously illogical. Constructions of surreal humour tend to involve bizarre juxtapositions, incongruity, non-sequiturs, irrational or absurd situations and expressions of nonsense.
  The humour arises from a subversion of audience expectations, so that amusement is founded on unpredictability, separate from a logical analysis of the situation. The humour derived gets its appeal from the ridiculousness and unlikeliness of the situation. The genre has roots in Surrealism in the arts.
  Surrealism in television follows the theme that "everything seems bizarre, possibly nightmarish, and certainly dream-like."
  Absurd and surreal humour is concerned with building expectations and proceeding to knock them down. In these acts, even seemingly masterful characters with the highest standards and expectations are subverted by the unexpected or by plans in collision, which the scene emphasizes for our amusement. Similarly, the goofball or Stoic character reacts with dull surprise, dignified disdain, boredom and detached interest, thus heightening comic tension.
context_section_description: In the early 20th century, several avant-garde movements, including the dadaists, surrealists, and futurists began to argue for an art that was random, jarring and illogical. The goals of these movements were in some sense serious, and they were committed to undermining the solemnity and self-satisfaction of the contemporary artistic establishment. As a result, much of their art was intentionally amusing.
  One example is Marcel Duchamp's Fountain (1917), an inverted urinal signed "R. Mutt". This became one of the most famous and influential pieces of art in history, and one of the earliest examples of the found object movement. It is also a joke, relying on the inversion of the item's function as expressed by its title as well as its incongruous presence in an art exhibition.
caption: Marcel Duchamp's Fountain (1917), an inverted urinal signed "R. Mutt".
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