I'm back from working on the "Silent Pictures" show in NYC, and can resume my duties of keeping up with our rave press coverage!
Chris Mautner, who wrote a really nice blurb when he chose the anthology as his pick of the week, has made good on his promise to write a longer review:
...even if the very mention of the word “abstract” makes you poke your fingers in your ears and go “La la la la”, I’d strongly recommend the book, as it contains a number of strikingly beautiful images and sequences...For years, comics (at least American ones) have doggedly refused for one reason or another, to consider other schools of art and beyond mere representation. It’s only now we see artists attempting to branch out and try to push at the edge’s of the medium’s definition. As such I found Abstract Comics to be a revealing, thought-provoking and genuinely lovely book that I’ll be sure to be rereading in the months to come.
Thanks, Chris!
And we have received what seems to be our first foreign-language review, by Alvaro Pons:
...el volumen Abstract Comics recién editado por Fantagraphics permite ir un paso más allá y trascender la definición aceptada de historieta hasta dejarla obsoleta, comprobando que las posibilidades expresivas de este medio y de este lenguaje son todavía desconocidas. Cuando parece que la gramática y semántica del noveno arte comienzan a ser conocidas, la propuesta planteada por Andrei Molotiu derrumba por completo la arquitectura formal para demostrar que existen puertas no exploradas que pueden descubrir claves nuevas necesarias para comprender en toda su profundidad y extensión qué es la historieta....
No sería entonces la narrativa el elemento fundamental de definición del cómic, sino la secuencialidad y la composición como generadores de vehículos sensoriales visuales con componentes espaciales y temporales (e incluso sinestésicas).
La historieta es todavía más apasionante de lo que creíamos…
If, despite my poor mastery of Spanish, I understand correctly what Alvaro is saying, then I can only reply, "Yes!"
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Allow me to translate: "The Abstract Comics volume edited by Fantagraphics allows to go a step beyond and trascend the accepted definition of comics until it leaves it obsolete, stating that the expresive possibilities of this medium and this language are still unknown. When it appears the grammar and semantics of the ninth art begin to be known, Andrei Molotiu´s proposal throws down completely the formal architecture to show the existence of unopened doors that can let us discover new keys to understand in all its depth and extension what comics are... It wouldn´t be the narrative the fundamental element that defines comics then, but the sequentiality and composition as generators of sensorial vehicles with spatial and temporal components (and even synesthetic ones). Comics are even more exciting than what we believed..."
ReplyDeleteI hope I didn´t make a mess out of it. Cheers.
Thanks, Blopa!
ReplyDeleteI really like what is going on on the Abstract Comics blog. There is alot of really interesting and provocative work.
ReplyDeleteI've been doing abstract comics myself for at least 5 years, and featured some in my BFA exhibition in 2007. I sent some images to Scott McCloud and he suggested I look into your abstract comics blog. I would love to be a contributor to this blog and feel I could offer some unique work. I have a blog for comics at whatcomics.blogspot.com if you go there and click the "geometric comic strips" tag it will show you all of my abstract work. In my opinion the best of that work features the tag "bfa exhibition" the rest are strip I did for my college paper. One of them won an award but the paper didn't tell me which one. I hope to hear back from you.
Thank you for efforts in abstract comics,
Aaron Zvi Felder