1/31: Statement

[Monkey Angst]

I've had the same conundrum. Basically, what I decided was, you can't waste your time being anybody other than yourself. Fuck the audience. Those who want to read it, will read it. What I've found is that the best-laid plans of what you want your comic to say will often be completely obliterated by what it ends up actually saying. They have a mind of their own.

[Debt On]

Handy link to what Brad's referring to.

Thanks for the comments, Brad.  It's very true that comics have a mind of their own.  I'm often surprised with what people seem to be coming away with from my comics.  Often people who don't know me seem confused with the political stance I'm making.

I think the main problem I'm having is that I'm a much more radical person than I think I've been letting on in my recent writing.  Subconsciously, I think I was doing it that way to gain fans, but instead I think it's made me come off as ordinary.  And when I read it I cringe because I think I'm not being true to myself.

But I also have to disagree with you - despite how hard it can be to know what your art is going to say beforehand, the relationship to audience is crucial.  We create comics for ourselves, certainly, but we also create them to impart our opinion onto others, subtly or not, so striving for greater clarity is paramount.

Here's what I was reading right before I sketched that, on a train to New York.  It's from the introduction by Walter Lowenfels from a fantastic book of poetry called Where is Vietnam?

Today the "devine average," the audience, is becoming part of the creative scene.  The poem is not just words on a page, it is a relation between poem and reader.  When the poem enters somebody else's eye or ear, it stops being ink marks on a sheet of paper and enters a new existence in the life of others.  That's what's taking place right now in the United States.  I don't know that anything like this arte publico has happened on our continent since the birth of the mural art movement during the Mexican Revolution half a century ago, when the painters took over the walls to reach ordinary people who had never entered an art gallery.

This statement is even more relevant today, I think, considering since then we've seen the rise of hip-hop and graffiti, blogs with instant feedback, and yes, webcomics.

[Monkey Angst]

I think the main problem I'm having is that I'm a much more radical person than I think I've been letting on in my recent writing.  Subconsciously, I think I was doing it that way to gain fans, but instead I think it's made me come off as ordinary.  And when I read it I cringe because I think I'm not being true to myself.

I often have the same issue, but in my case I've come to realize that it's not a problem getting out what's in my head, the problem is that I'm deluded about what's in my head. I have often thought "I'm really much more radical than this, why isn't my writing reflecting that?" later, after doing this for a while and being frustrated at every attempt to write radically, I realized that my writing was correct, it was my self-image that was in error.

But I also have to disagree with you - despite how hard it can be to know what your art is going to say beforehand, the relationship to audience is crucial.  We create comics for ourselves, certainly, but we also create them to impart our opinion onto others, subtly or not, so striving for greater clarity is paramount.

I think worrying about the audience should be secondary to satisfying yourself.

Today the "devine average," the audience, is becoming part of the creative scene.  The poem is not just words on a page, it is a relation between poem and reader.  When the poem enters somebody else's eye or ear, it stops being ink marks on a sheet of paper and enters a new existence in the life of others.  That's what's taking place right now in the United States.  I don't know that anything like this arte publico has happened on our continent since the birth of the mural art movement during the Mexican Revolution half a century ago, when the painters took over the walls to reach ordinary people who had never entered an art gallery.

This statement is even more relevant today, I think, considering since then we've seen the rise of hip-hop and graffiti, blogs with instant feedback, and yes, webcomics.

This is true. However, one needs to clarify in one's mind where the line of demarcation is. Art cannot be created solely in consideration of the audience. Art is not democratic. Feedback is useful, and getting it feels good, but at the end of the day, it's my strip and I'm not particularly interested in having it be essentially audience-created. I'm not sure if that's what you're talking about, though...

[Traitorfish]

Art is not democratic.

You sure?
Don't use absolutes- they have a tendency to come back and bite you on the ass. 

[Monkey Angst]

Art is not democratic.

You sure?
Don't use absolutes- they have a tendency to come back and bite you on the ass. 

How about this: Good art is not democratic.

[Traitorfish]

Yet again, you sure?
OK, admittedly, that stuff isn't great, but still, there's some skill there...

[Debt On]

Yo, Traitor, those sites you posted are awesome.  Some great stuff there.  Sorta takes that whole 'infinite canvas' thing to the max, an infinite graffiti wall.

Sorry I haven't been around this thread.  You make some really interesting points, Brad, that I've thought very carefully about.

So I'm going to take your advice and try and take a more radical shift with my comics.  I feel like I've been tentative with my opinions, and make the mistake of always talking about politics in the framework of the American electoral system.  A broken system.

Not that I'll stop commenting on those issues altogether, but I think I've been a little too wrapped up in Presidential and Congressional elections, and I need some breathing room.  I find that thinking in that framework can be all too limiting.

[Monkey Angst]

So I'm going to take your advice and try and take a more radical shift with my comics.  I feel like I've been tentative with my opinions, and make the mistake of always talking about politics in the framework of the American electoral system.  A broken system.

Go for it! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

[EddieC]

So I'm going to take your advice and try and take a more radical shift with my comics.  I feel like I've been tentative with my opinions, and make the mistake of always talking about politics in the framework of the American electoral system.  A broken system.

Go for it! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Seconded.  That's the only way to be an artist... you've got to explore your depths and not just dangle your toes in the water.