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Human Achievement
Funny, urgent, bizarre, and honestpop artist David Shrigley's darkly hilarious scrawls from the subconscious have earned him a growing legion of fans around the world. Human Achievement collects new truths, anxieties, and amusements from the mundane to the surreal in an addictively strange and entertaining picket-sized primer that welcomes the uninitiated and rewards the faithful.
144 pages, Paperback
First published October 9, 2002
8 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
David Shrigley
74 books126 followersDavid Shrigley is a Glasgow-based artist. He attended City of Leicester Polytechnic's Art and Design course in 1987-1988, and subsequently studied Environmental Art at the Glasgow School of Art from 1988-1991. Shrigley is a lifelong supporter of Nottingham Forest FC.
Although he works in various media, he is best known for his mordantly humorous cartoons released in softcover books or postcard packs.
Like the poet Ivor Cutler, Shrigley finds humour in flat depictions of the inconsequential, the unavailing and the bizarre - although he is far fonder of violent or otherwise disquieting subject matter. Shrigley's work has two of the characteristics often encountered in outsider art - an odd viewpoint, and (in some of his work) a deliberately limited technique. His freehand line is often weak, which jars with his frequent use of a ruler; his forms are often very crude; and annotations in his drawings are poorly executed and frequently contain crossings-out (In authentic outsider art, the artist has no choice but to produce work in his or her own way, even if that work is unconventional in content and inept in execution. In contrast, it is likely that Shrigley has chosen his style and range of subject matter for comic effect).
As well as authoring several books, he directed the video for Blur's 'Good Song' and also for Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's 'Agnes Queen of Sorrow'. From 2005 he has contributed a cartoon for The Guardian's Weekend magazine every Saturday. He is represented in Paris by the by Yvon Lambert Gallery, and in 2005 designed a London Underground leaflet cover.
David Shrigley co-directed an animate!-commissioned film with award-winning director Chris Shepherd called Who I Am And What I Want, based on Shrigley's book of the same title. Kevin Eldon voiced its main character, Pete. He also produced a series of drawings and t-shirt designs for the 2006 Triptych festival, a Scottish music festival lasting for three to four days in three cities. He has also designed twelve different covers for Deerhoof's 2007 record, Friend Opportunity.
The name of Jason Mraz's third studio album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. is a reference to a piece of art by Shrigley which caught Mraz's attention while he was travelling through Scotland
Although he works in various media, he is best known for his mordantly humorous cartoons released in softcover books or postcard packs.
Like the poet Ivor Cutler, Shrigley finds humour in flat depictions of the inconsequential, the unavailing and the bizarre - although he is far fonder of violent or otherwise disquieting subject matter. Shrigley's work has two of the characteristics often encountered in outsider art - an odd viewpoint, and (in some of his work) a deliberately limited technique. His freehand line is often weak, which jars with his frequent use of a ruler; his forms are often very crude; and annotations in his drawings are poorly executed and frequently contain crossings-out (In authentic outsider art, the artist has no choice but to produce work in his or her own way, even if that work is unconventional in content and inept in execution. In contrast, it is likely that Shrigley has chosen his style and range of subject matter for comic effect).
As well as authoring several books, he directed the video for Blur's 'Good Song' and also for Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's 'Agnes Queen of Sorrow'. From 2005 he has contributed a cartoon for The Guardian's Weekend magazine every Saturday. He is represented in Paris by the by Yvon Lambert Gallery, and in 2005 designed a London Underground leaflet cover.
David Shrigley co-directed an animate!-commissioned film with award-winning director Chris Shepherd called Who I Am And What I Want, based on Shrigley's book of the same title. Kevin Eldon voiced its main character, Pete. He also produced a series of drawings and t-shirt designs for the 2006 Triptych festival, a Scottish music festival lasting for three to four days in three cities. He has also designed twelve different covers for Deerhoof's 2007 record, Friend Opportunity.
The name of Jason Mraz's third studio album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. is a reference to a piece of art by Shrigley which caught Mraz's attention while he was travelling through Scotland
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 8, 2008
One of my students loaned me this book after a unit on controversial art, and I have to say this is one of the most enjoyable art books I've ever read. There's something about the organization/disorganization of this that reminds me of a 17-year-old livejournaler I used to be obsessed with, who had such "projects" as listing the entire gamut of available "moods" and then writing "kill me".
Shrigley has the same sort of morbid, OCD embrace of failure. He holds it close to his chest and shows himself in half-sentence, half-drawing, half-thought, from the start of the book to its enigmatic "end".
Shrigley has the same sort of morbid, OCD embrace of failure. He holds it close to his chest and shows himself in half-sentence, half-drawing, half-thought, from the start of the book to its enigmatic "end".
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February 19, 2017Don't seek to understand everything. Just let it flow. You may wonder what's underneath the scribbled-out words and let your imagination go to work. Also, don't eat the log with sparm on it.
September 13, 2012
If ever they will see this book maybe they'll wonder how this book publish in spite of some childish drawing and not-so-good-joke but then I really love this book maybe you to open your mind until your brain will come out on your head before you get the logic of it. :)
September 16, 2011
I never have more fun than when I'm reading David Shrigley's newest book of drawings.
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November 28, 2012Really stupid.
February 27, 2014
ugly and wonderfull
March 4, 2022
Some of this is genius—and a good deal is masturbatory dreck.
August 22, 2022
Completely absurd post-art art book but also completely genius. Love David Shrigley’s work.
February 12, 2025
much like my job as a data scientist, david shrigley turns randomness into something strangely meaningful through his art. spent the afternoon watching his interviews and he seems like such a chill guy
January 21, 2021
Childish drawings and bad jokes. I don't get it.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews