The Intercorstal on display, ft 3D Batman

I was recently asked to contribute some work to the Heads Up group show being held in Chelmsford, Essex. I was given free reign over what I could preset, and decided to present some of my abstract comic work, but outside of the confines of a bound comic.

The idea of a cardboard Batman costume had been floating around for a while, and by chance I was landed with the space, materials and purpose I'd need to make it. You can see from the photos, by comparing it to the door in shot, how big it is.

The insides are lined with print-outs of pages from The Intercorstal (my abstract comic) which have been cut up either into individual panels, or selections of panels. These were then pasted on according to where they'd fit, rather than through any more elaborate, conscious system. (by coincidence, I'd just finished this when Andrei posted on Facebook that Bulletproof Coffin had just used cutup techniques in one of their issues). The comics sections on the 'fists' were drawn on by hand.

Apparently the worst person to interpret a piece of art is the artist, but I'm going to stab at it anyway. I'd intended it to serve more than one purpose. One was to take the comic 'off the page' somehow. Another was to force myself and/or the audience to question and compare 'traditional' comic (i.e. Batman) with the work I've been doing. It was also intended to be viewed as a 'ceremonial' item, that could be used in some kind of ritual attached to the 'world' of The Intercorstal.

I've written a seperate post about the show itself on my blog and have also created a facebook album of photos from the rest of the show, if you're interested.

If any of you happen to be in the area, Heads Up is on in the old Barclays Building, end of Chelmsford high street, closing on May 27th