Jon-Michael Frank

When I learned of mid-life crisis's while growing up, I thought they lasted a few days when you turned 50 (I had high hopes of making it to a hundred). They sounded fun - packed with new identity and realizations and maybe a new yellow convertible. And they sounded brief. Middle, in my eyes was the 26th or 27th card in the deck. Not the stack between the top and bottom card. I've been experiencing a mid-life crisis for the last 11 years. Maybe mid-life crisis is just a dysphemism for life? One thing I know,  Jon-Michael Frank doesnt make me feel alone in this feeling.
I came across Jon's work at Push/Pull in Seattle. I originally intended to just take photos of his work, copy and remake them for myself. But his crude drawings added more than I knew, and decided to pick up his book. You should too. Or at least just follow him on instagram.

instagram.com/jonmichaelfrank 

 

 

 

 

#savepepe

A lot has happened to Pepe in the 7 years since we last posted about him and his friends in Matt Furie’s Boy’s Club 2. You can read about it just about anywhere*, but in a nutshell, Pepe went from a fun-loving innocent frog in Boy’s Club, through thousands of iterations on 4chan**, and years later found himself being co-opted by the Alt-Right to become a symbol of white nationalism and then finally deemed a symbol of hate by the Anti-Defamation League, right along there with swastikas. (Note: the podcast Reply All does a great job telling Pepe’s journey). 

 

But now Matt Furie is fighting back to reclaim Pepe, with his new campaign #savepepe, in “an effort to take back the popular meme from racists and use the frog’s likeness as a force for good."

Furie aims “to reclaim the rascally frog from the forces of hate and ask that you join me in making millions of new, joyful Pepe memes that share the light hearted spirit of the original chilled-out champion.”

Hopefully the story of Pepe isn’t over.

*I’m kind of confused about the origin of “Feels good man”. Shown above is the comic from Boy’s Club 2, which I thought was the original image, but this wasn’t published until 2009 and I’ve read accounts that Feels Good Man circulated as early as 2005. Does anyone know if Feels Good Man was present in Boy’s Club 1?

** I’m also curious about the rules for posting “Original Pepe’s” on 4chan, and how unoriginals are regulated. But love the idea of Rare Pepes - especially in the age of the internet.

David MacGowan presents Blade Runner

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears...in...rain."

OK, this is kind of important. David MacGowan has been recreating the neo-noir sci-fi classic Blade Runner, frame~by~frame... in MS Paint. He's been at it since July of this year, posting nearly every day on MSP Blade Runner tumblr. And it sounds like he may actually finish.
David MacGowan explains his work:

"I like the idea of having a blog but basically feel as if I have very little to say about things, at least things that are original or interesting. I gravitated to Tumblr with some idea of just posting pictures, but still felt I needed to be posting something I'd actually made myself... [Y]ears ago I used to draw really crappy basic MS Paint pics for a favourite pop group's fan site, and they always seemed to raise a smile. The idea of doing something else with MS Paint, a kind of celebration of my not being deterred by lack of artistic talent, never really went away....
I don't really think about giving up. The idea of actually completing something I start out to do (for once in my life) is very appealing,And it's fun, it's not a chore."

I'm so glad Mr MacGowan is doing this so I don't have to.

Vancouver Art/Book Fair Update pt2

It’s unclear if our local reporter managed to make it inside of VA/BF, but we’ve rounded up some highlights and publishers you should get to know. 

 

                KIOSK -- no website found                                                 DDOOGG --    http://ddoogg.ca/

Hayley Dawn Muir
follow Hayley on IG @hayleydawnmuir (photo lifted from her IG)

Brick Press
I can't find it online, but Brick Press has published a fun read on online dating by @tiffinbreen















Just a pic posted by @vancouverartbookfair

Vancouver Art/Book Fair Update pt1

This weekend marked the 5th anniversary of the Vancouver Art/Book Fair, and I had the pleasure of covering day one for WA. Let's meet some publishers and check out some cool reading material. Here we go!

Like all years, VA/BF was hosted at the VAG. I couldn't get the best photo of the building, so I snatched this from the internet. Enjoy. 

Didn't catch their name, but this Day of Dead group performed an excellent cover of

 'You can call me Al'. 

The VAG cafe patio was a bit wet, but 10/10 coffee! 

Real neat tote bags this year. Thanks guys! 

Vancouver Book Art Fair 2016

Worry Art's been attending Vancouver Art / Book Fair for over 8 years now, and this year we can't wait to celebrate their 5th anniversary! If you're in Vancouver this weekend, come down to the Vancouver Art Gallery and check out some of the slimmiest slime this fair can fare. Details details details.

We'll be posting updates LIVE from a local correspondent. Stay tunez! 

Ambient Comics

I had the opportunity to flip my grease prints through Tom Gauld’s newest book “Moon Cop” on the weekend. It’s a nice meditation for the eyes and gives the ol funny bones a good shake. But it also shook up some memories of something I meant to post about a few year ago: ambient comics. 

(from Moon Cop)

As my eyeballs rolled over the moon’s surface and across the pages, I was reminded of an idea I had a few years ago to make ambient comics. I can’t remember exactly what inspired the thought at the time (probably something to do with Norway’s Slow TV, Jim Bizzochi, a recent panic attack, and maybe the way Brian Eno’s ambient music is described in How Music Works), but I became fascinated with the concept of creating something that doesn’t demand attention. It felt counter-intuitive, humble, and in an odd way intriguing (similar to how I felt when a close friend told admitted they watched softcore porn without masterbating). I wondered about extending this concept across different mediums (not just porn), but particularly comics - through panels and pages, with no words or apparent narrative (besides the one created in your head). I was after something that was pleasant to look at, but passive; it would just let your mind wonder. But, like all ideas, I soon discovered that it already existed.  Or at least in some kind of shape and form. And in the years since, I've seen these shapes and forms everywhere. I’m not sure how you categorize the work, but here's just a skim of the dream cream. I'll post more later, but for now enjoy this weekend spa retreat for your looking orbs.

Joe Kessler

 

Martina Paukova

 

Óscar Raña

[By the way, if you haven’t thumbed through Tom Gauld’s "Goliath", do yourself a favour and hear the story of David and Goliath from the other side.]