Friday | March 12th, 2010
I have recently come across an old article Robyn E Kenealy wrote about Brent Willis.
Check it out here:
Furthermore, those of you who are not fans should become so at once. Fetus Boy Adventures is the South Park of New Zealand comics. Nothing – neither members of parliament nor sex, neither fart jokes nor consumer culture is sacred. To miss out on Fetus Boy is to miss out on life! There! I said it, and I shan’t be retracting it either. In fact it is my Not So Humble opinion that Willis is perhaps the most proficient and also the most useful satirist in the country at the present time.
In a word, awesome! Robyn.
I have recently come across an old article Robyn wrote about Brent Willis
Check it out here:
Fetus boy adventures: Brent Willis and the sacred Cow or How to become a Subversive Artist in Eleven Easy Issues
Amazing conceptual book!
See the book verison at scribd which I might add has a great page turning interface.
found via Abstract Comics Blog
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For the 2010 Black River Digital New Zealand Comics Awards or the Eric’s named after NZ comics Legend Eric Resitar.
Nominations for:
and
Bristle has been nominated for best Anthology
This is so exciting! Thank you so much to everyone who nominated me. In the next stage, shortlested works will be judged by people including Roberta Gregory, Andrei Molotiu, Elizabeth Knox, Ant Sang (of ‘Bro’ Town’ fame) and David Blumenstein
You should all come to the Award ceremony held on Saturday April 3rd as part of Comics weekend at the Basement Gallery on Dixon Street, Wellington.
And here is the complete list of nominations for each category.
Best Comic
The Inhabitants by Sheehan Bros
The Tangled Garden by Draw
Love Stories by Matt Tait
Hotpools by Ned Wenlock
Book by Hayden Currie, James Rowsell, Matt Henley
Best art
The Inhabitants, art by Darren Sheenan
Hotpools, art by Ned Wenlock
Chicks with Knives, art by Claire Harris
Utopia Now Vol.1 art by Margaret Silverwood
Love Stories, art by Matt Tait
Best Writing
Passion of the Gimps by Clive Townsend & Brent Willis
The Inhabitants writing by Kelly Sheenan
Omnisexual by Robbie Neilson
The Tangled Garden by Draw
Best Strip
Western Park by Tim Kidd
Thumbscrew Theatre by Brent Willis (Salient 2007)
Tim Bollinger’s variously titled series in White fungus
‘Jitterati’ by Grant Buist
‘Desert Funnies’ by Grant Buist
Best Anthology
Bristle (ed. Brent Willis)
Radio as Paper (ed. Jerome Bihan)
Pictozine II (ed. Dave Bradbury)
Book (eds. Hayden Currie, James Rowsell, Matt Henley)
Best Webcomic
I Fight Crime
Tiny Kitten Teeth
DrawingSilence.com
Guzumzo Comics
How to Understand Everything and not hate yourself
Best Debut
Book #1 by Hayden Currie, James Rowsell, Matt Henley
Hotpools by Ned Wenlock
G33K by Renee Lyons
Skate Rat by Theo MacDonald
Girls can Really Fuck You in the Head by Elliot Stewart
Best short piece
Under the Bed by Tim Molloy (Single issue)
The Adventures of Happy Satan by Ari Freeman (Bristle #2)
Super Camel by Claire Harris (Bristle #1)
Commuters, by Brent Willis (Bristle #1)
Dear Reader, Fuck You by Sophie McMillan (from Radio as Paper #3)
Key note speach from O’Reilly Web 2.0 conference by Douglas Rushkoff, from here. On first viewing I really like it, he raised and tried to address some of my miss givings about freeness on the net. Yet the second time around it became clear that I don’t share his assumptions about the system.
Still food for thought.
Right! I’ve finally got round to posting some photos of the Silent Pictures Exhibition at the James Gallery of the Graduate Center of CUNY
James Gallery Entrance
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Silent Pictures entry & Small Zines by Robert Breer
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lots of people
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a bookshelf of Anthologies
Silent Pictures Programme booklet
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Art Spiegelman’s collection of wordless comics
A History of Composition in Abstract Comic Covers, 2001 by Mark Stafford Brandi
James Gallery’s Silent Pictures Explores the Nonverbal Power of Comics
Silent Pictures, running from September 1 through October 11 in the James Gallery, will focus on aspects of comic book structure that do not depend on words to advance an image sequence. The exhibition is inspired by artist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Art Spiegelman’s personal collection of wordless comics and graphic novels — mostly black and white rare artist books from the 1930s. The show will feature a selection of these books, as well as more recent “abstract comics,” and a related film program — all of which investigate essential qualities and aesthetics of this hugely popular medium.
The James Gallery is located off the lobby of the Graduate Center at 365 Fifth Avenue (between 34th & 35th Streets). Hours are Tuesdays through Fridays, 12–8 pm, and 12–6 pm on Saturdays & Sundays. Admission is free; for more information call 212-817-7138 or visit http://www.gc.cuny.edu/events/art_gallery.htm An opening reception for Silent Pictures will be held on Thursday, September 10, 6-8 pm.
The abstract comics, compiled by art historian and cartoon artist [No, I don't know what a "cartoon artist" is either; and I'm pretty sure I'm not one, in any case. I didn't write this release.] Andrei Molotiu for a just released anthology, Abstract Comics Fantagraphics Books, 2009), call attention to the formal mechanisms that underlie all comics. Where the earlier art collected by Spiegelman retains a narrative, often politically charged thrust, the comics gathered by Molotiu emphasize the dynamic graphics that lead the eye and mind from panel to panel, suggesting that these structural elements are fundamental to the emotional register of the medium.
The exhibition will also feature a specially commissioned wall drawing by Renee French, a hand-drawn animated film by the British artist team Rachel Cattle and Steve Richards, and a new collaborative project for the Graduate Center’s Fifth Avenue lobby display windows by Gail Fitzgerald and Carl Ostendarp.
In addition, Columbia University art historian and film scholar Noam Elcott will curate a related film program titled “Comic-Film-Strip.” To be installed in a small gallery-within-the-gallery, this program will feature mostly wordless, animated historic films, in which the frame-by-frame narrative parallels developments in the wordless comics that also emerged during the first half of the 20th century. “Comic-Film-Strip” will include selections of films by Emile Cohl, Walter Ruttmann, Norman McLaren, and Robert Breer, as well as a very early partially animated film by William Kentridge. Elcott will elaborate on “Comic-Film-Strip” in a public conversation to be held September 25, 6-7:30 pm in the Graduate Center’s Skylight Lounge.
from the press release here.
And here is the most important part of this post. My Comics!
Can you spot my Comics? (Click for larger)
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My Comics in New York!
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For reviews of the exhibition see here and here.
Acknowledgments:
A big Thank you to everybody who made this possible especially Linda Norden and Andrei Molotiu who curated the show. Also to the James Gallery for giving me permission to use the photos.
Photo Credits:
Annemarie Poyo Furlong. “Silent Pictures” at the James Gallery, CUNY Graduate Center.
Murray Hill Incorporated, a PR firm is running for Congress here is their snazzy ad.
This was just to Awesome not to post!
Firstly I’ve decided to repost them all here as I found them so you can see for yourself. They are posted in the original order I found them. The original Abstract Comics Post and ‘Found’ Abstract Comic.
I posted these because they are just awesome! I was also being a bit provocative which was why I didn’t write a commentary and perhaps unsurprisingly I got the ‘this is not a abstract comic’ reaction. Especially the last five images.
It was serendipitous when I first found them it seemed like out of chaos came order and this beautiful abstract comic. When I read it I saw it as an eight page comic transitioning from large scale forms to tiny scale forms which then mutate, twist and transform themselves. Or snipets from a larger narritive. Or like we had zoomed into tinyest details of the earlier pages.
It didn’t even occur to me that people would read them as single pages and then decide what fitted into the definition of abstract comics.
I think I will do some experiments with these Abstract comics.
If you are interested in the source they are all from Dover Publications
the first three: Art Deco Spot Illustrations and Motifs
the last five: Background Patterns, Textures and Tints
America is awesome
The Guantánamo “Suicides”: A Camp Delta sergeant blows the whistle
When President Barack Obama took office last year, he promised to “restore the standards of due process and the core constitutional values that have made this country great.” Toward that end, the president issued an executive order declaring that the extra-constitutional prison camp at Guantánamo Naval Base “shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than one year from the date of this order.” Obama has failed to fulfill his promise.
isn’t it
America is awesome
These days, Tabitha, who asked that her real name not be used in this story, has yet another burden: a stamp printed on her driver’s license labels her a sex offender. Her crime? Sex work.
isn’t it…
I have a treat for you all!
For the next week or so I will be posting Abstract Animations on a Monday – Wednesday – Friday schedule starting tomorrow!
just posted at the Abstract Comics Blog, some weird images
I mean abstract comic
A new issue of Bristle for the New Year! With a great front cover by Brent Willis and the back cover by me Draw
Contributor list for this issue includes; Chris Cudby, Ari Freeman, Claire Harris, Robyn E Kenealy, Renee Lyons, Steve Saville, Clive Townsend, Ned Wenlocke, Dick Whyte, and Brent Willis.
It is $5.00 NZD for 36 A5 pages!
If you want to get a copy email Brent Willis at celfbw[at]xtra[dot]co[dot]nz
Send payments to : Brent Willis at PO Box 27-258, Wellington.
or if you are in New Zealand you can try your local comic book shop.
Loud, Terrifying and destructive!
Damb it! I’m going blog about this! Even if its a year old. Amazon, one of the world’s most popular websites doesn’t treat its workers very well, In fact they treat them appallingly!
– Warned that the company refuses to allow sick leave, even if the worker has a legitimate doctor’s note. Taking a day off sick, even with a note, results in a penalty point. A worker with six points faces dismissal.
– Made to work a compulsory 10½hour overnight shift at the end of a five-day week. The overnight shift, which runs from Saturday evening to 5am on Sunday, means they have to work every day of the week.
The working conditions in the UK branches sounded like I had slipped back in time to Victorian England.
It makes me sad.
Here is an update about Amazon in America from November 2009 by the Huffington Post
More from December 2009:
“The Secret Lives of Amazon’s Elves”
It wasn’t exactly what Cherie had envisioned. “When we told people were going to do this, someone said ‘Whenever I click the order button on Amazon, I always imagine a chorus of happy, singing Oompa-Loompas riding around on Segways and shipping my stuff.’ Well…no. It’s not exactly like that.”
When we go shopping there seems to be this mental dissonance going on. No one thinks about the where, the what, or the how, of whatever they are buying, just consuming it.
I’ll leave you with this quote:
“Just getting to experience that type of work, to literally see consumer culture flow beneath your fingertips, was absolutely fascinating. You feel the pulse of the market.”
First day of the New Year!
Comics Weekend and the Eric Awards are some of the exciting things to look forward to later in the year.
Thanks everyone for all your support and have a great Holiday period!
I hope everyone who celebrates Christmas is having a good Holiday.
been listening to this recently. found on a Eurodisco compliation. It is awesome, reminds me of 80s sci-fi TV and Movies like ‘The Running Man’
A bit late, I know, but here it is:
Zinefest returned for a second year, (Actually its Third time, Thanks Tessa! edit:2009-12-10) this time at Mighty Mighty. The first year was a mixed blessing; while the size of the venue was an advantage (it was a big church hall), being off the beaten track meant it felt like a ghost town, with only the friends of stall holders coming to visit. Still it’s always nice to see all the Wellington comics people. This year was different, Mighty Mighty was a great venue, with a really nice atmosphere and a liquor licence which is always a bonus!
Most of the afternoon it seemed really busy with lots of people about, but I wonder whether this was to do with the smaller size of the venue. The crowd was variable: lots of dis-interest, with many people just looking at the table, without picking up comics to have a closer look. Occasionally someone stopped and asked lots of questions, which is always encouraging. It was nice to see lots of variety, the selection ranged from political, anarchist and feminist to art and personal zines. There was also a good range of indie style comics (and even the occasional mainstream title like ‘New Ground’).
My feeling is that stall holders would have done better this year (I actually sold some comics this time! Thanks Malcolm and WCC Zine Library!) and overall I really enjoyed myself. It was great to catch up with people I hadn’t seen in ages and there was a nice chilled vibe to everything.
Additionally the ‘Radio as Paper’ launch at Russian Frost Farmers was a lot of fun, nice to see the art at a larger size. RFF is a kinda cool, odd art space with a garage roller door. A highlight for me was meeting The High Seas people. As the evening wore on someone decided to start making drone music. What an awesome way to end the opening.
If you want to see more of the photos of the opening go here.
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Damn! I don’t think I have ever been this infuriated with TV before in my entire life! The Last Templar mini series finished this Wednesday here in New Zealand.
I can’t remember when TV pissed me off so much! The mini series was sorta watch-able , well at least part one was, but then turned really mind numbingly dull.
Not only is it dull but the aftermath of the climatic scene really does take the cake turning into a sanctimonious religious sermon complete with repenting Hollywood Atheist! AAAARGH!
