Average Happiness

The scouts

A PowerPoint presentation that fucks itself into surrealism—this is the kind of premise that makes you lean forward because nobody else would've thought to weaponize corporate tedium this way. Gehrig's refusal to let data stay dead, to let those charts become something sensual and uncontrollable, is exactly the subversive move that makes shorts actually matter.

Gehrig positions herself in a rich lineage of animation-as-formal-critique, working within the tradition of Švankmajer and early Fleischer while maintaining her own rigorous visual language; the precision of her morphological transitions suggests a filmmaker deeply aware of what animation can do when it interrogates representation itself.

The decision to let the animation *escape* its grid—to prioritize the sensuality of form breaking free over narrative coherence—is what transforms a clever concept into something that actually breathes; it's a single aesthetic choice that reframes the entire 7 minutes from satire into something genuinely contemplative.

Reviews

Looking to change our perspective on statistics and inject a little sensuality into them, Maja Gehrig experimental animation Average Happiness thrusts it audience into a world of undulating charts and graphs, which morph together to create a disorientating, but oddly inviting world. The effect is both mesmerising and effective, as this isn't just a visual experimental for Gehrig (even though it plays a bit like one) there's plenty of meaning behind her premise.