6 Things Show at the Jewish Museum

From this emerged a forthcoming documentary entitled The Happy Film and from that The Happy Show, a traveling exhibition with accompanying publications, organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia. Six Things is a continuation of this project on happiness, in which Jessica Walsh has been an integral partner. In five compelling short videos and a sound-activated sculpture, Sagmeister & Walsh examines six things culled from Sagmeister’s diary that he believes have increased his personal happiness:

If I Don’t Ask I Won’t Get

Keeping a Diary Supports Personal Development

Be More Flexible

It Is Pretty Much Impossible to Please Everybody

Now Is Better

Feel Others Feel

Sugar cubes, bubbles, and water balloons are just some of the materials used to spell out the phrases. The ambiguous connections between the six epigrams and the objects of which they are composed are left for visitors to decipher, a provocative game based in the pleasure of looking. In addition, intrigued by a 2010–11 nationwide survey in which Jews reported the highest levels of well-being of all religious groups, the studio has placed a text in the gallery that connects scientific data to the personal exploration of happiness.

Photographs by David Heald