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The Museum of Modern Comedy in Art (MoMCo), currently located in the Project Arts Centre, describes itself as “either an artwork in the guise of a speculative museum, or a museum dressed up as a contemporary installation.” Presented as an investigation into moments of absurdity in modern art, MoMCo attempts to dissolve the myths which have coloured our view of art since the twentieth century. Though overall well executed, and sometimes funny, the whole concept is thrown into question by the highly academic manner in which it is conveyed.

The stars of the exhibition were the clay dioramas by MoMCo founder, Olav Westphalen. These seven sculptures depict moments from the so-called ‘story’ of modern art which Westphalen found especially incredible. These include Paul McCarthy’s ill-fated recreation of Yves Klein’s ‘Leap Into The Void’ and Brian O’Doherty’s ECG ‘portrait’ of Marcel Duchamp. The red clay models are somewhat childlike in their depiction of these moments, which adds to their humour. In ‘Lee Lozano ignores her friend, the playwright Rochelle Bass, at the grocery store after having decided to boycott women on principle’ (1971), the frowning expression on Bass’s face is hilarious. Despite their overall simplicity, the tiny details on the figures are lovingly portrayed, down to the readings on Duchamp’s ECG.

However, elements of the exhibition have an unexpected serious tone. The video components are exactly what you might expect to find at contemporary exhibitions which MoMCo claims to critique. Periodically, the room darkens completely and viewers are essentially forced to watch videos which are projected onto the wall. The videos, referred to as ‘Resuscitations’, are complex works which only become more perplexing when ‘explained’ by the exhibition catalogue. Indeed, the academic language of the handbook is inaccessible, and seriously diminishes the whole experience. The ‘Resuscitations’ section doesn’t really gel with the general statement of the exhibition.

On the whole, MoMCo is an interesting examination of how we look at art. For a collection that claims to question the ‘surgical’ treatment of modern art, it doesn’t diverge greatly from what you might expect from a typical contemporary art show: high ideas, inaccessible language, and a repetitive video section. The exhibition guide states that this is the first of further shows on the same theme, so perhaps later exhibitions will attempt to diverge from this model further and truly create a ‘new’ perspective on art.

MoMCo will be running at the Project Arts Centre until 21st October.