From yesterday until 19 July, anyone passing through London Town can stop off at Orbital Comics and check out their gallery to see some amazing experminetal comic work from the fantastic Karrie Fransman. We’re talking comics made from jewelery boxes, puppets, dollhouses, sewn comics and my favourite, the piece below featuring a 2D character moving between various 3D frames.
Karrie Fransman Experimenting with Comics exhibition
I was lucky enough to be at the launch evening which included a range of discussions and talks with Karrie, Paul Gravett and Daniel Merlin Goodbrey.
Karrie introduced us to her work before opening up a brain challenging conversation on the definition of what a comic is. I won’t begin to go into the detailed debate that ensued (and is still going online) but it certainly raised awareness that comics can be all sorts of things beside strips and books.
I got a chance to discuss the nature of some of my own ceramic comics. Nice to be a small part of a great evening.
Karrie asked the audience to decide if this is a comic…
Paul went on to talk through a history of experimental comics including comic installations in various galleries and spaces. One of the ones that made the biggest impression on me was this 1903 strip by Gustave Verbeek called The Upside Downs of Little Lady Lovekins and Old Man Muffaroo. The title is no more crazy than the idea. Each episode read the right way up, then the reader would flip the story upside down and read the rest upside down and it made perfect sense!
As a comic creator I can’t begin to imagine the headaches that would give you trying to make it work once, let alone week in week out.
The Upside Downs of Little Lady Lovekins and Old Man Muffaroo
Finally Daniel talked about Hyper-Comics, comics which involve a larger than usual amount of interaction with the reader. It was a fascinating look into the possibilities of what can be achieved in the medium, with technology and imagination. Daniel’s site e-merl.com is bursting with different ways of creating comic work – a fine collection of inspirations for any creator. A Duck has an Adventure looks particularly fun and exciting so I can’t wait for an iPhone version.
Paul Gravett, Karrie Fransman and Daniel Merlin Goodbrey
One of the reasons I love comics is because anyone can make them with something as simple as a piece of paper and a pen, but considering possibilities way beyond that is certainly something I need to look into…
You can hear the discussion and see the slides on Orbital’s website here or just check it out below!
