bearfish #1 by sarah schneider
i liked this zine. it's about a romantic relationship between sarah schneider and tao lin. there are 12 short stories inside.
i remember when i first read jeffrey brown's comics i was really impressed. in austin english's tcj essay dethroning blankets, he suggested one of jeffrey brown's books as a totem in comics.
i guess it reminds me of having a girlfriend who makes zines. it's endearing i guess, to me, the 'artlessness' of it, which in my mind requires some strength of character to accept/produce.
i feel like sarah has made up a clear system of what is figurative and what is not in her comics (it's hard to describe) and i am impressed by how confident she is in that regard.
reminds me slightly of the relationship i am currently in.
yoko ono in 'my favorite beetle' starring jason t. miles
this reminded me of the children's book 'madeleine', in that it is drawn quickly and loosely, in a seemingly artless manner, to powerful effect. the disconnect between human (yoko ono) and character (yoko ono) creates a tension that at times is very pronounced.
untitled (good moon) by jason t. miles
i got this zine and felt excited. the zine consists of black and white printouts of screenshots of hallhassi.blogspot.com. there are other tabs open in the safari browser, including gmail, wikipedia, and google search. in the search bar in the upper right is the text 'JASON T MILES 2009'.
pines #2 by jason t. miles
jason is moving quickly and moving toward something i am interested in. this zine is hard to write about. seems like the workbook of someone who is thinking very intensely about comics, drawing, and words. i'm not sure how much more i want to say.
call all my dawgs 5: paradise island adventure by sam gaskin
this is a small zine that reminded me at first of cola madness by gary panter. i wasn't sure how to feel about this zine.
call all my dawgs 6: the family circus by sam gaskin
this folded 11x17 paper mashes up the family circus in satisfying ways. sam gaskin sends out 'stockings' to people and this is the 'perfect' 'stocking stuffer'.
exploding head man by jason overby
jason overby is my favorite and exploding head man is my least favorite. it is an early story that he has recently revived into zine form. there are some parts where he draws himself, as narrator, and i feel really embarrassed because of what he is wearing/what he is saying. it is a 'peek' into the awkward formation of a talented and earnest cartoonist.
various zines by aidan koch
these were nice but i want to talk about aidan koch's new zine, i forget what the title is. it reminded me of a new order record playing on 30 second preview. feel like it is possibly a way for art comics to 'break through' [something]. feel like it could be an 'out of left field' success story.
taffy hips 5 by various
i liked it, want to see the new issue.
i have now reviewed all the zines i currently possess. see previous zine coverage
15 comments:
if you are asking people to send you their work, you should do more thorough reviews.
It's one thing to record your impressions in an honest way, it's another to avoid digging deeper into your impressions because you can't honestly describe them.
Why do the guys' clothes make you feel embarrassed? Why don't you want to tell us more about Jason Miles' zine?
It feels like you just kind of accept whatever passes through your head as not only legitimate, but interesting. It's not. When it's about stuff you're interested in, it's pretty frustrating..
Luke P.
@anon i will do more thorough reviews if people send their work in, especially for 'newcomers'
@uland i am using honesty as a limitation. i worry that my idea of jtm's zine will change too much with time that i don't want to say something that i will regret. i was thinking of saying that i wish pines #2 was more 'artless' in its physical production, but i am not sure that i will still think this in a few months.
Why not explore that question, then? What is the reader meant to take away from that?
Is this a review of you, or are you reviewing zines?
i am looking at myself looking at zines.
i think this review probably could have been written a lot better but i like the 'artlessness' of it.
worried this blog is getting too popular...
You're deluding yourself, my friend.
pot kettle black
I'm worried I'm getting too popular is al. You can't queer things with too many people around....
What's this "artlessness?" I'm not sure I understand. A positive quality? Is this like saying I should visit this wonderful restaurant because of the tastlessness of the food? Why is an illustrated zine considered more desirable for its "artlessness?" Do you really mean honesty, genuine-ness...something else?
I think when Blaise sees himself looking at that zine and imagines writing about it, and then writes about it, he's wishing that the "artless" qualities he sees in the book could be personified: I am so art, that I don't even need it anymore. [i]I AM ART AND SO IS WHATEVER I SEE/DO[/i]. The peaks of artfulness ( the artist embracing a distinct aesthetic) are sore reminders that that isn't really what's happening here, and go on to mock his desire to be so fucking artful that he hates art.
@matt 'artlessness' as opposed to 'artsy'
'artsy', to me, is insecure longing to be 'an artist'
'artlessness' is security in the fact that one is/isn't an artist
instead of 'trying' to be creative, one trusts that anything one does is naturally creative
a child is artless, a teenager is 'artsy'
@uland 'The peaks of artfulness' = 'the artist embracing a distinct aesthetic'
does this perspective comes from illustration and the desire for a unique 'style' (brand)
is it like asking for a distinct signature so that the art can be 'verified' 'authentic'
Blaise: I think what you're describing is a style though, just one that hasn't been codified yet. I think desire for that lies in a doubled-over self consciousness.
There is an ironic schism in your logic, I think, and that's in thinking someone can make a zine and not be conscious of being "creative". We're talking about something that has been prepared to fit a format, work in a sequence and be reproduced and then distributed. How could one be conscious in the way that's required to do all that and then simply lose it when it comes down to creating the content?
You have to try really, really hard to forget that. Achieving something like that is not the opposite of working in a "style", it's a doubly self-conscious way of avoiding the appearance of style.Ultimately, that willful naivete' must be feigned.
I think the only time working in a "style" is no good is when it's not done in earnest; it doesn't become one with the content, so to speak. It seems to me that when it really works, concerns about an instantly recognizable originality— branding, really— is forgotten about. The work starts to speak for itself.
There is no purity that you're going to find, I don't think. Children draw the way they do because they're dumb to the world, not because they're more open.( I love kids, btw). You'll never find a clean way out of having to deal with being "creative" if you're conscious enough to even conceive of "creativity", or "art".
i didn't read the other comments yet. so i am not yet comprehensive. but i thought exploding head man was awesome and thorough. i do not think it needs the overby canon to back it up. i think many of these zines/minicomics are awesome cause they don't need any other context but themselves.
i don't know for sure that you were implying a full knowledge of the oberby comics-making history, blaise, in order to appreciate this particular volumn, and place it safely in the context of his particular creative chronology, but safely:
i must lodge the fact that i don't know him as well as you. but i thought it smacked of a hunch. it packed a lunch. yknow?
FEH!!!
safely, then:
for thee and thine:
maybe someone else has said this same thing, but i will read through these thoroughly outdated, filthy, resonant of age comments, and see.
ah, yes.
what were we talking about? in this palatial, slightly orange cafe? which of us were smoking? i honestly can't recall.......was this about tao lin?
ULAND embarrassed Blaise, so he never responded.
Post a Comment