MoCCA Art Festival
When the name of my own website doesn’t autocomplete in the address bar of my browser, it’s been too long since I’ve posted. It’s just that when you’re pondering the mysteries of Lost, the days all blur together in a stomping cloud of black smoke that sounds sort of like those low tech credit card machine tillers when they print receipts in triplicate. You know how that gets.
Ummmm
So. Hi there!
The MoCCA (Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art) Art Festival yesterday was well attended and air conditioned, in the lovely Puck building.
We caught Chip Kidd’s talk about the comics and toys that inspired his upcoming book Bat-Manga!. (wow that punctuation looks weird)
I went around to all the tables but didn’t stay nearly long enough to fully enjoy the many independent writers and artists. I had a great time accidentally but very happily chatting with Bill Plympton, internationally super famous talented and brilliant cartoonist, illustrator, and animator, about his most recent film Idiots and Angels. He handed me the pencil sketch from the scene in which the main character notices he’s sprouted wings in the shower, and described how the hero initially resents the wings, because they make him do good. What a nice guy Bill Plympton is! And soooo bloody talented.
Less famous folks were also nice, talented people I very much enjoyed meeting.
This one couple’s work, The Bazaarium and especially “The Dollar Dreadful Family Library” caught my eye, because it reminded me of the (early days of print style) rubber stamps from J.C. Casey that I adore and use in my own chapbook thingies. W. Staehle does the design and typography, T.D. Rio writes the fiction. These are printed booklets you want to hold in your hand and trace with your finger, and the stories are delightful (if you’ll pardon the un-sarcastic use of the word), surreal of course, and are in perfect harmony with the design. I encourage you to check them out, and I’m sure they wouldn’t mind me passing on this discount code good for 5% all purchases (limited time) at The Bazaarium: ODDGOODS. Believe me, I know someone who simply needs The Victorian Delorean.
I found Hyeondo Park and Jim Dougan to be especially charming young men of art and letters, respectively. I picked up a handful of their comics Come the Dawn, Neurotica, Fate by Yali Lin, and The Vile Demonic Show. With the exception of the last title, the art is lustrous and detailed, the writing solid comic goodness. The Vile Demonic Show is more cute and funny, in the spirit of the badly-drawn-on-purpose-but-that’s-ok comics we see (and i like) on the web. Through them I learned of The Chemistry Set a collective of budding comics. Can I just stress that these guys were young and sweet and talented and it makes me all tenderhearted and well-wishful to think of them. I’d also like to ask them about the printing on Come the Dawn, as I’m not sure how it was done, but it reminds me of the effect created with salt and water in silk painting. Clearly I have zero idea what I’m talking about.
Now back to Mac Rumors Live and staying indoors on this nasty hot day.
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