Cabinet 17

An uninhibited guffaw or a nervous giggle, a derisive snicker or the malign "bwahahaa" of the comic strip villain--each form suggests that laughter has many sources of inspiration. This issue of Cabinetaddresses the cultural history of laughter through a sparkling mix of essays, interviews and artist projects. Slavoj Zizek tells us what jokes can teach about Hegel; an interview with Simon Critchley shows philosophy's attempts to understand why laughter alters our understanding of the world; and a portfolio of artist-designed tickling machines commissioned for the issue provides us with joy of our own. The lustrous lineup of participants in the unthemed section includes: Steve Rowell and the Center for Land Use Interpretation (CLUI), Daniel Heller-Roazen, Jesse Lerner, Paul Lukas, Sven-Olov Wallenstein, Margaret Wertheim and Robert Lang. Artists' projects by: Emily Jacir, Marco Maggi, Michael Rakowitz, Craig Kalpakjian and Robert Bowen.