Topic 6 Week 2: Artist's Books - 20th May

Having done this topic as my essay I have done plenty of research. But I struggled this week to try and find something interesting to post on my journal having already written a post in the holidays, written my essay, posted on the forum and written a journal last week. I've flooded myself with Artist's Books and am finding it hard to come up with new information without repeating myself. So perhaps this week I will focus my journal on one particular artist of an Artist's book who interests me most.

Angela Lorenz;
I decided to further study Angela Lorenz because (apart from actually featuring in my essay) seems to be one of the Artist's who are more open to the ideas of an Artist's book believing that anyone can make Artist's books whether they are an artist, a writer or a philosopher. I also like her work!
Angela Lorenz is a modern American artist who has created many Artist’s Books that deeply explore the uses of mixed media and the book form.

• Sunday Stone- Light Verse Magazines Vol.III (2009-2010) : This Artist's Book was made in an edition of only 30 copies. The piece was based on composite minerals from pipes and water troughs
  
  of coal mines in England and Scotland. A black and white rock was found that recorded work patterns of the employees - black stripes (water with coal dust) indicating days of work and white ones days off (usually sundays and thicker white lines for longer holidays such as Christmas when the water ran clean). This piece incorporates many different elements relating to this period in the 19th Century including; black and white pages, handwritten poem on carbon paper (writing/working in the dark), glow in the dark fish skeletons on the back (light experimentation in the mines), ghost like fossil plant on front cover (workers feared evil spirits that may dwell in the mines, fossils of plants that miners couldn't link an origin to).

I like Angela Lorenz's work because of the amount of research that she puts into her works. They aren't just something she throws together. The title, the meaning, colours, materials, images and functions all connect to a central theme. Her works all really play with and test the form and function of a book by either; removing the binding, changing the shape, using different materials etc. Lorenz tries to be the sole producer for her works, but of course uses helpers when she explores a medium she hasn't tried before. I also like that all of her pieces look like they need to be touched, and need to be pulled apart and looked over and over in order to discover all parts of the story.

 

Topic 6: Artist's Books - 13th May

I found it very difficult to try and seperate the differences between Livre d'artiste and Artist's Books. They are so closely related that many of the below examples could really be placed into either category.

Before the Artist's Book movement became a separate field in the 20th Century, there was a lot of experimenting with 'Livre d'artiste'. An art dealer named Ambroise Vollard is considered to be the originator of Livre d'artiste and although the translation suggests that these and artist's books are the same, it is important to note the differences and the evolution from Livre d'artiste into Artist's Books. 

Livre d'artiste are books that have been illustrated by artists. They differ from regular illustrated books as the artist works personally as the printer or works very closely with the master printer to created individual prints especially for the book. Some key features of Livre d'artiste included large sized formats, hand colouring, fine binding and the use of rare materials. The original prints were often made from a material which allows limited uses and therefore limited editions. These books were created for a high end market. Artists like Picasso and Matisse were involved in experimenting with Livre d’artiste.

Although they are much like Livre d’artiste, there are some notable characteristics that Artist's Books had that Livre d’artiste didn't. Livre d’artiste was still very structural and traditional, with a distinction between image and text on facing pages. They didn't challenge the book structure to become a part of the production, theme or the books intention like Artist's Books did. The artist and writer didn't often meet in the production of Livre d’artiste. These kinds of books were often made to the editor’s vision and were visually pleasing to meet the markets expectations. Whereas, the artists of Artist's Books were involved in most details of the books creation. They tried to blur the boundaries between the image and text so that the books were an expression and creation of their own. Many Artist's books are produced on a low budget provided from the artist. They took advantage of independent printing which allowed them to have all the power in the production and publication of their book. However, craftiness doesn’t always make something into an Artist's Book. Artist's attempt to bend and stretch the rules of craft and book arts, much like they do with the book structure. 

There are some other distinguishing points for Artist's Books. These include the fact that they are often (but not always) portable, have a case for storage, protection, and transportation which is often integrated into the design of the book, they use mixed media, they are made to be touched and interacted with, and they have different display possibilities e.g. hanging, flat or as a performance book. 

                         

Topic 5 Week 2: Comics and Graphic Novels - 6th May

Winsor McCay was an American animator and cartoonist. McCay created popular comic strips including Little Nemo, Little Sammy Sneeze and Dream of the Rarebit Fiend. He also produced a number of animated films. Between 1903 and 1911 McCay produced many comic strips for many companies.

I found Winsor McCay's journey into making comic strips professionally quite interesting for the simple fact that he had so many obstacles throughout his life with people trying to hold him back and keep him in one place. I admire his perseverance to draw as much as he could. To begin with, McCay harnessed his quick drawing skills and great attention to detail to draw portraits as an attraction at an amusement park. This was his first step into the art world, even though his parents didn't approve of this as a career path. What followed was a series of jobs as a printer, then an artist, followed by a sign painter and eventually he landed himself a job making drawings for a local paper and also submitting drawings to other magazines. This is where McCay developed his skills in using a pen to create his drawings.

Winsor McCay became one of the first cartoonists to master the use of cinematic features in his drawings. This included things like cinemascope, tracking, panning, pacing, motion and even special effects.
In 1903 he accepted his job at the New York Herald creating comic strips.

Little Nemo in Slumberland (1905-1911), was a real hit from McCay which eventually made its way to broadway. Little Nemo was a little boy who had amazing dreams which were the theme for the weekly strip. It sounds like it would have been quite a cute comic strip, with the stories initially being about Little Nemo's adventures to King Morpheus' realm, "Slumberland" to meet playmate Princess Camille. However, his journey was often dark, surreal and violent and the comic strip often ended with Nemo waking up in his bedroom having suffered from a disaster or even death within his dream. The story eventually branched out to other imaginary lands as well.
I found it funny in a way to discover that Nemo, in Latin, actually means nobody. It makes for an interesting translation when you substitute it in... Little Nobody in Slumberland.. or even into the pixar film 'Finding Nemo' - Finding Nobody?

The stories of Little Nemo remind me of "Max and Moritz" a German stories about two mischievous children who always ended up in a bad way. My grandma used to read them to us (translating them to english) when I was little. They were funny but I don't think we truly understood the stories and black humour. I think this is why I took such interest in Little Nemo. Within my research I found that Max and Moritz may have influenced some German comic strips Katzenjammer Kids and Quick & Flupke. I've attached the below image to show one of the situations that the twins get themselves into. Unfortunately I couldn't put the whole story in because they are not in the comic strip format and therefore take up a few pages. Basically though after playing many tricks, the twins are caught, thrown in the mill and eaten by ducks. The twins constantly meet a terrible fate in their stories after being menaces to the other townfolk.

Comic Fun Facts

* Marvel was first known as timely comics (it was set up by a New York magazine publisher in 1939). It went from timely comics to Atlas and finally Marvel in 1961

* Marvel once owned the rights to the word 'Zombie'.

* The comics code authority forbade the use of werewolves in comics around 1969

* Marvel was the first comic company to give a black superhero his own comic book

* Superman was the first comic book super hero

* in 1946 when comic book sales in the US were out selling traditional books, concerned parents, teachers and libraries intervened by gathering and burning the books - a ritual which was later condemned

* The idea to use big eyes on anime characters came from American cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse, Bambi and Betty Boop

* The most simultaneously published comic strip is Peanuts by Charles Schulz, which appears in 2,620 different newspapers in 75 different countries

* The earliest cartoon strip named 'The Yellow Kid', was shown in the New York Journal in 1896

* The Addams family was originally a cartoon for The New Yorker

Topic 5: Comics and Graphic Novels - 29th April Week 9

I found this topic the most interesting out of all the topics this session as it's one I didn't look at last year (having chose children's books in 2012 as it was what drew me to the subject in the first place.

Without doing any research, my definition of a comic book is: a picture orientated story with captions that's purpose is to entertain, mostly through the use of humor. They are often short strips that try to entertain in a few frames but also can be book length novels.
I'm yet to decide whether there is a difference between comics and cartoons. When I think of cartoons I generally think of the animated version on TV. But for the purposes of this topic that's not the type of cartoon we're after. Perhaps cartoons refer to single image political cartoons you find in the paper opposed to comic strips? Most likely there will be a difference between cartoons on paper and comics but I get the feeling, based on the past topics, that there the two will have overlapping characteristics.

The most common features of a comic include:

• the 'comic strip - a narrative in the form of sequential pictures, sometimes with text
•  they are usually published regularly eg. weekly or monthly
• they're normally very cheap in order to reach a wide audience
• bordered panels to breakdown the action into sections
• speed lines, speech and think bubbles, symbolism and strong character expressions
• text including; narrative, dialogue and sound effects (onomatopoeic)
• everything is done in shorthand that allows readers to fill the gaps using their imagination
• they are able to compress or extend time
• they are highly effective  in conveying lots of information in limited space.
• they can be compared to movie story boards with their use of camera angles

True to a lot of the definitions in this subject, these points apply to MOST comics and of course there are some exceptions..

Comics which can also be referred to as comic strips and comic books, originate back to the late 1800's, however some Japanese comics have a history that dates back to the 13th C. Comics are able to be mass produced quickly and inexpensively. The idea is to communicate a point quickly and directly. In order to do this they tend to incorporate the use of stereotypes and cliches.