Basswood
22.5 x 36 x 43 in
57.1 x 91.4 x 109.2 cm
2008
Richard Humann • Wave Swinger • Basswood • 22.5 x 36 x 43 in • 2008
In Wave Swinger, Richard Humann replaces the suspended chairs of a familiar amusement park ride with crosses fitted with binding ropes and nails, transforming an attraction associated with exhilaration and carefree pleasure into an image of crucifixion. The basswood sculpture belongs to his series You Must Be This Tall, in which classic carnival rides are reconfigured with devices and symbols associated with execution and torture. The result is a darkly humorous collision between the lighthearted promise of amusement and the brutal reality of human suffering.
The wave swinger ordinarily offers riders the sensation of flight, lifting them into the air as they circle above the ground. Humann retains the ride’s recognizable structure but replaces its seats with instruments of suffering, turning a spectacle of amusement into a disturbing reference to ritualized punishment and death. There is an absurdity in imagining crosses swinging through the air where delighted riders would normally dangle, as though the machinery of a carnival had been repurposed for a macabre celebration. This playful incongruity sharpens the work’s impact, allowing humor and horror to occupy the same space.
The work confronts the uneasy relationship between public pleasure and individual suffering. Amusement park rides invite crowds to gather around shared experiences of excitement, while crucifixion represents an extreme form of physical torment historically used as a public demonstration of power. By merging these opposing associations, Humann asks how suffering can become spectacle and how violence can be accepted when embedded in familiar cultural or institutional forms. In Wave Swinger, the dark humor lies in the transformation of a ride designed to inspire delight into a suspended theater of punishment, exposing the unsettling proximity between those who watch and those who endure.
Richard Humann • Wave Swinger • Basswood • 22.5 x 36 x 43 in • 2008
Photo credits: Joseph Silva / Richard Humann Studio