ALTERNATIVE COMICS STATEMENTS 2002 PAGE 2

ALTERNATIVE COMICS DRAWING TECHNIQUES

The initial “HEY APATHY! alternative comic ink drawings were expanded from a series of crayon sketches made at the same time that I was studying under Viktor Tinkl at the Ontario College of art & Design. Viktor had an unconventional approach to drawing, free of pretensions & technical precision. Viktor’s class introduction included the distinguished “Santa Claus” type gentleman spontaneously tearing the bottom off of his styrofoam cup, dropping the liquid contents all over the floor and his clothes, and then proceeding to splash the coffee across the room claiming that he was “making marks”. The class, originally consisting of 35 students, was instantly reduced to a handful of fortunate individuals. Having eliminated the naysayer’s, Victor proceeded to offer us strange drawing instruments and fantastic stories about people, art ,and adventure. Victor’s “non-approach” to expression was an integral influence , freeing me from the constants of technical comic book illustration and inspiring the notion of disregarding perfection, and corrections, in favour of expression and spontaneity. Victor’s “ non-approach” to story telling was also influential, as his tales ,while personal, were always macrocosmic and driven by experience.

DESIGN STUDIES

Gerry’s teachings were very scientific and methodical. Emphasis was given to ideation and the technical development, as well as expression, semiotics, and social issues. Several of my processes and objectives are derivative of the teachings of Howard Gerry. Gerry introduced two important practices I continue to work with today; a two-symbol methodology, and the notion of using a set duration of time for the development of an idea.In Gerry’s case, a metal knife and fork were used to represent males and females in a series of sculptural explorations. In order to maintain focus and fully examine the symbolic possibilities, Gerry set forth to use these symbols exclusively for the period of one year.

Howard also addressed several of my concerns regarding art as a vehicle for social development. Gerry was also the first, and only artist, I have ever met who uses his talents as a vehicle for social development, as many of Gerry’s projects are designed to assist people with disabilities. I have since adopted both the limitation of symbols, and the set duration of study, as well as aspiration to create artworks of social importance, as part of my own regimented technical practices.

ARTIST'S PROCESS "BUILDING A CITY"

The project began with a theme and a limited set of symbols and materials, which were then explored for a limited duration, using a variety of disciplines including drawings, murals,alternative comics, animations, and installation.

The cumulative outcome of this extensive practice being the creation of an alternate gallery experience capable of encompassing it’s audience. By subverting popular communication techniques, the ultimate initiative was to provoke discussion and potentially learn something about the city (and myself). Through further analysis of the predetermined restrictions, multi-disciplinary explorations, and spontaneous occurrences of the initial investigation, one can better understand the signature artistic process that I initiated here, and continued to develop through out the “HEY APATHY!” artworks.

ALTERNATIVE COMICS THEME

“A public is everything and nothing, the most dangerous of all powers and the most insignificant: one can speak of a whole nation in the name if the public and still the public will be less than a single real man, however unimportant. The qualification ‘public’ is produced by the deceptive juggling of an age of reflection, which makes it appear flattering to the individual who in this way can arrogate to himself this monster, in comparison with which concrete realities seem poor. The public is the fairy story of an age of understanding, which in imagination makes the individual into something even greater than a king above his people; but the public is also a gruesome abstraction …” Kierkegaard, The Present Age, p. 63-65

Keirkegaard’s analysis of the faceless crowds, and inquiries into the individuals comprising such an entity, were embraced as kindred to my investigation. In these words, the same questions provoked by my new life in the big city, were so beautifully and intellectually expressed that a new clarity and determination arose. Expanding on the initial crayon doodles, depicting various stages of apathy and the apocalypse with stick figures and cartoon block buildings, I drew the first alternative comics ink on paper cityscape . The narrative and images seemed very particular, especially in comparison my more technical comic book illustrations, therefore the resolution was made to investigate these simplistic hieroglyphics exclusively as a series of ink drawings regarding the identity of the city.

HEY APATHY! ALTERNATIVE COMICS Statements 2002 page 3

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