Great New York Times story on art flipping

[Overthetopinc]

From the artists perspective controversy gets their name out there but controversy for controversy's same seems to me like artistic sensationalism in the pursuit of dollars. In other words, attention-whoring art does not necessarily equal great art.

 

 

Very well put.. Short but worth a 1000 words!

[Garf]

I don't personally care for the idea implicit in what you are saying - that controversial art is somehow more relevant. To me if it's a truly great piece then it is at least as likely that there is little or no controversy at all.

 

From the artists perspective controversy gets their name out there but controversy for controversy's same seems to me like artistic sensationalism in the pursuit of dollars. In other words, attention-whoring art does not necessarily equal great art.

 

I had a similar thought earlier before revisiting this thread. My appreciation of art is in its infancy compared to those who have more than a passing interest

[suspense39]

http://www.fantagraphics.com/browse-shop/abstract-comics-the-anthology.html?vmcchk=1

 

Well Garf, you got me thinking about this again and found this book, which I will now have to order!

 

It's pretty much where I thought it would have to go. Everything starts somewhere... but then is it something that can be viewed as groundbreaking or are comics like this simply doomed to forever languish far behind contemporary art or even seem like borrowed ideas? Things may evolve given enough time but to me it looks like a case of being marginally better than nobody doing anything new.

 

 

It's a very traditional medium and that's hard to push against, like you said, they stand out like a sore thumb. This has become a recent interest of mine to seek out those who are attempting to break the visual forms.....and I haven't come up with much.

 

Well careful now. It's a job first, art second. Otherwise the editor kicks it back and/or fires you for somebody else to take over. Exit the editor and it's not Marvel, DC, Dark Horse or IDW. Those are real businesses with accountants and bank credit line reviews. So then it's creator-owned and operated and sure can get arty. But too arty and it's not effectively telling a story anymore. Maybe even completely unreadable. And a failure of style over substance. Am I too far off-base here?

 

What has never been delineated, imo, is the "rules" of good storytelling in comic art. Supposedly everybody knows it when they see it, editors, Stan Lee, fans, art school kids, everybody, They all talk about it all the time. And somehow it's like the world's biggest secret too. Because nobody can ever describe it to me in a way that I can really understand. I mean panel storytelling 101, but more than the Scott McCloud books (which I do "get").

 

You want truly innovative comic art, forget about the flash of McFarlane and Lee and whomever, that's all style over substance (what the fans like that is, not to say they don't storytell really well too...as I've admitted, I'd be the last to be able to tell one way or the other!) Think instead of pushing the boundaries of style INSIDE solid storytelling, or finding a completely new way to tell comic-ish stories (sequentially...but...NOT??), breaking the "rules" of panel storytelling. Yeah? Yeah!

 

I can only add that I do know when the artist's storytelling sucks. Because I can't finish the book, my mind wanders, I get bored trying to figure it out or toss it in frustration. That happened a lot in the early 90s and eventually I stopped buying new comics. Excepting 100 Bullets and a few others that still worked and (coincidentally, or not?) were headline fan favorites. But that's all so negative. I'd rather focus on the positive and know what really good storytelling looks like and be able to break it down, just like a big time artist does when doing portfolio reviews at a con. Not the words, but the seeing through his eyes, the brain piece.

 

Sounds like you should serve yourself up a hefty dose of modern pages sans baggage of the cursed speech bubble. It will help you focus on all of that

 

Seriously though why not take the story outside of the panels or sequence? Plant all the hidden seeds to the story on the front or back cover, glue two plot twisting pages together that won't easily be found because someone got amnesia... but leave the reader feeling that the ending just isn't right, turn a sequence of corner panels into a flip book, use perspective trickery across panels or pages... anything... and blend it into the story... or ... or ... got it! Do a holofoil cover. Genius.

 

I found an interesting article on comic abstraction, it's a bit long but even if you read 1/4 of it I think you'll walk away with new ways people are thinking about the comic art form. Have a good read!

 

http://madinkbeard.com/archives/abstract-comics-the-discussion

[suspense39]

http://m.thenation.com/article/177629-surviving-moment

 

 

[Terry Doyle]

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/gold-bars-buried-beach-treasure-hunt-021605463.html

 

I think I prefer this idea over Tracie Emin's disgusting bedroom antics . . .