Painfully polite and hilariously hostile writings from shared spaces the world over.
for the purposes of this project, we’re using a pretty broad definition of “passive-aggressive” that roughly correlates with how the term is popularly used. as the new york times wrote: “the classic description of the behavior captures a stubborn malcontent, someone who passively resists fulfilling routine tasks, complains of being misunderstood and underappreciated, unreasonably scorns authority and voices exaggerated complaints of personal misfortune.”
that said, some of the notes found here aren’t really passive-aggressive even by our generous standards. some of these notes are really more aggressive in tone, and some of them are more passive — polite, even — but they all share a common sense of frustration that’s been channeled into written form rather than a direct confrontation. it’s barbed criticism disguised as something else — helpful advice, a funny joke, simple forgetfulness. as dr. scott wetzler, a clinical psychologist and the author of living with the passive-aggressive man, observed: “a joke can be the most skillful passive-aggressive act there is.”
Recently on display at KK Outlet the Hoxton gallery and office of Amsterdam’s (click this link) KesselsKramer agency.
One Comment
this is awesome…