Every year on April Fools’ Day, the team at Hyperallergic gathers to blend a year’s worth of extraordinary global art events into a day’s worth of believable satire. It’s the highlight of our editorial calendar, eagerly anticipated by me, the publication’s mischievous editor.
This year, aside from our own new and wild jesting, we also want to spotlight some other amusing April Fools’ antics happening within the arts and humanities. It’s delightful when renowned institutions can humorously critique themselves and their industries through a modern perspective.
Let’s dive into some of our top picks for this year’s art and culture pranks. The Morgan Library and Museum joked about transforming its famous ceiling and interior features with a ‘Landlord Special.’ A perfect finish would have been the addition of millennial gray faux-wood vinyl flooring.
Meanwhile, the Pulitzer Arts Foundation celebrated its mind-bending architectural elements, cautioning daydreamers. Wikipedia humorously disclosed its use of fundraising pop-up campaign proceeds on an invaluable logo. The New York Public Library’s April Fools’ jest involved swapping its famed lions with beaver sculptures resembling someone munching on Cheez-Its.
The Brooklyn Museum and Brooklyn Botanic Garden teamed up to propose a whimsical Alice-in-Wonderland-style tunnel linking the two venues, echoing the style of a state fairground. Forget the Interborough Express, we need resources for this endeavor! Kudos to the Guggenheim’s social media manager for a laugh-inducing post proposing a winner’s image projection on their spiral for a week.
