The 64 page book is a gorgeous showcase of Aidan’s ethereal pencil illustrations and poetic storytelling. The story follows a young woman who has just suffered the loss of a loved one. There is no backstory or explanation. Instead we simply follow the protagonist for a day as she walks her dog on the beach, makes tea at home, is surprised that all of her loved one’s belongings fit in a couple cardboard boxes. The text is minimal, just her internal dialogue, but very resonant.
Most of the time we keep death at bay as an abstract mystery. Butwhen death cannot be avoided it pierces each moment like a needle.Those painful hours become linked with normally small and mundane details, almost absurd, always irreversible. I think the book is trying to capture this melancholy paradox; the complex idea that we live in a world of objects, sweaters and seashells, while simultaneously existing in the overwhelming emotional world of our memories. In our hearts we identify with the grandeur of existence, and in our minds we know there is nothing.
Special thanks to Blaise and Aidan for sharing this 12 page preview. Preorders are available on Gaze Books’ website (http://www.gazebooks.com/store.html) and Blaise has announced a release party in October, at his apartment.
Moebius is arguably my favorite comics creator of all time. For the past few years, zero of his books have been in print in the US. Zero.
The good news is Humanoids is back and they’re bringing all of the Jodorowsky/Moebius collaborations back to print. Jodorowsky and Moebius worked together to create a film adaptation of Dune in 1974. The film was never made, but instead of letting all their designs and ideas go to waste, they took those concepts and made some awesome comics like Metabarons and The Incal. This November their finest collaboration, THE INCAL, returns with all three volumes collected in a deluxe slipcase format (with the original colors, not those terrible digital recolors from a few years ago).
Humanoids just received a sample copy of the book and there’s more great photos of the interiors on their blog.
Floating World Animation Fest returns with a new name and trippier mission. We’ve dug even deeper into the vaults of psychedelic animation to curate a heroic dose of visionary video art for this year’s animation fest.
For our fourth annual animation fest it was time to focus on what we liked best from previous shows and continue to seek out films that really embrace the infinite mysteries that resonate with us. The result is DMTV, a program that goes further into experimental realms of video art and abstract visuals.
Rounding out the evening are two of my favorite local bands, Atole and Nice Nice who will perform with live visuals mixed by e*Rock and Yoshi Sodeoka.
LISTING INFORMATION:
WHO: Atole, Nice Nice; films by: Barry Doupe, Michael Robinson, James Mercer, Eurico Coelho, Jacob Ciocci, Milton Croissant, David O’Reilly, Dash Shaw, Dalibor Baric, Kihachiro Kawamoto, Max Hattler, Jesus Rivera, Max Capacity and more!
WHAT: FWC’s 4th annual animation fest & live music by Atole, Nice Nice
Travel, aka The Trip (1973) – Kihachiro Kawamoto studied puppet animation in Prague in 1963 before going on to create his own haunting puppet and cut-out animations drawing from his own Japanese heritage. Travel depicts the journey of a young girl into the Dali-esque landscape of her own psyche.
Apeiron (1996) – Eurico Coelho depicts a modern technological labyrinth where society has surrendered to the cold lamps of their computer screens. The entirety of this ten minute film was animated on a Commodore Amiga 4000, giving the film a completely fresh aesthetic that has outlived the technology with which it was created.
The Peace Tape (2008) – With a title hearkening back to the analog era, The Peace Tape is a frenetic remix of old and new “found” video. Culling his sources from thrift stores (countless straight-to-VHS childrens’ programs), the Internet (a single YouTube clip featuring “dog in a dog costume”), and his own designs (flash animation of eyes and mouths, subliminal flickers of text), Ciocci concentrates hours of light entertainment into a dense, four-minute block. Saved from total sensory overload by the musical logic of Extreme Animals’ “A Better Way,” The Peace Tape is cryptic, hypnotic (and above all), empathetic. “Culture is out of control,” Ciocci explains, “but it is ok.”
Whose Toes (2009) – Barry Doupé’s films are as surreal as any Lynch or Jodorowsky movie, but with an added level of weirdness because they are rendered with Sims-like polygon graphics. Showcasing the late Princess Diana and JFK as its main characters, we are invited to return to past events that have caused discomfort, and to re-imagine a misstep in time.
The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D (2009) – This original animated web series is based on graphic novelist and comic book artist Dash Shaw’s latest book of the same title. Shaw’s animation has been widely praised for its eclectic style, innovative design and emotional depth.
So glad I’m in NY this weekend for this art opening. Mat Brinkman’s Multiforce comics in Paper Rodeo changed my life 10 years ago. Very excited to catch his first solo show in NY at The Hole. MAT BRINKMAN
PHANTASMATGORIA
SEPTEMBER 18 – OCTOBER 23 2010
OPENING: SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 18 6-9PM
THE HOLE
104 GREENE ST.
The Hole is pleased to present Mat Brinkman’s first solo show in New York! There are not enough exclamation points in existence to convey our excitement. The last time Mat showed a major work in New York was when he was part of Forcefield in the Whitney Biennial in 2002. I was a Whitney intern back then and like everyone who saw it, had my mind completely blown by that installation. I have followed Mat’s books prints and zines since then, from the epic Teratoid Heights book to his latest neon silkscreen zine by Le Dernier Cri, and got the chance to include him in a few group exhbitions like New York Minute at the MACRO in Rome and Mail Order Monsters, London at Max Wigram and Athens at Andreas Melas Presents. His work was also recently included in Portugal Arte 2010 in Lisbon, Portugal.
But now! Mat will be filling the gallery with black ink works on paper and blasting some rooms with colored light. Plus an advance previewing of selected work by various artists from a yet to be released Necro~Demonic Dungeon~Crawl~Warfare Boardgame. What will this be like? We don’t know. But pinch us because we just can’t believe we are finally getting to see some new art from this secret mega legend artist in our home city.
We will be releasing our first Hole book in conjunction with this show: a coverless mystery book in which we see a monstrous face melting, ripping off, reconstituting, tumescing and exploding. This book may do similar things to you head as well!
Mike Getsiv has completed three books of wordless comics (Eyeballs, Lightbeam and one more as yet untitled) plus the anthology he edited called Snow Stories. He was a major supporter and contributor to the Eisner-nominated anthology Abstract Comics published by Fantagraphics and now he’s working on a full-length autobiographical comic book called The Green Kid.
He also started a collaborative project called ABCOLAB on Abstract Comics: The Blog and received contributions from ten countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Cyprus, England, Finland, Portugal, Russia, the United States and Uruguay.
Fantagraphics Books is proud to announce the acquisition of the only graphic novel written by — and possibly the last unseen work of his to be published — the innovative Beat writer and Naked Lunch author, William S. Burroughs. This lost masterpiece, Ah Pook Is Here, created in collaboration with artist Malcolm McNeill in the 1970s, will be published in the summer of 2011 as a spectacularly packaged two-volume, hinged set, along with Observed While Falling, McNeill’s memoir documenting his collaboration with one of America’s most iconic authors.
Ah Pook Is Here is a consideration of time with respect to the differing perceptions of the ancient Maya and that of the current Western mindset. It was Burroughs’ contention that both of these views result in systems of control in which the elite perpetuate its agendas at the expense of the people. They make time for themselves and through increasing measures of Control attempt to prolong the process indefinitely.
Read the full press release and see more of Malcolm McNeill’s incredible artwork here.
Sean Christensen aka Awesome But True aka Glass Moustache is a prolific comics maker and mega awesome bro from way back. When he’s not getting radical or enjoying life… oh wait… that’s never. So in the midst of all that awesomeness you know he’s drawing pictures and making comics with his friends here in Portland.
One of his newest books is Labanotation: The Center of Weight, a collaboration with the incredible Amy Kuttab. We’re pleased to present some pages from a new odyssey in progress, ‘2005’.
Chris Cilla’s modern underground comics have been published in Kramers Ergot and his new book ‘The Heavy Hand‘ is now available from Sparkplug Comic Books. “What’s in ya sack, Portland?” Mild Hasslecop was previously printed in Made magazine, but now we’re reprinting it here for all to enjoy!
Lane Milburn was born in Lexington, KY and studied Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art. He currently lives in Baltimore, MD. He is currently at work on a long science fiction graphic novel that is coming along in fits and starts.
His new book DEATH TRAP was the winner of a 2009 Xeric Grant. It contains two stories: Perceived Obsolescence (a full color sci-fi short) and Death Trap, a 104 page horror tale of a group of teens who venture into the woods for a night of partying….only to encounter a strange evil… DEATH TRAP is available from Sparkplug Comics ( http://www.sparkplugcomicbooks.com/ ) or directly from Lane at: http://closedcaptioncomics.blogspot.com/2010/03/death-trap-has-arrived.html
Dina Kelberman’s first collection of comics and illustrations, Important Comics, will make you think and laugh. Also she has just released the tenth issue of The Regular Man. What else is Dina up to? I’ll let her tell it:
I am an illustrator comics and drawings and website. I enjoy blue, red, yellow and green when used correctly. I got to: go to Purchase College; found Wham City; show work in lots of places and publications; tour the east coast with my friends. Please email me at dina@whamcity.com immediately.
New projects I gots on the burner include: going to SPX in Sept., a book of my Citypaper comics, illustration for the next Nuclear Power Pants album, comics in Friends With Benefits (ltd. edition handmade art book by Impose Magazine) and Fakeheads Anthology, video on Baltimore vs. The World DVD by Current Gallery, & ISBN numbers!
Arthur Magazine 