Comic Book Art

"Comic Book Confidential" by Ron Mann was a very entertaining documentary on the history of comic books. Ron Mann starts talking about the history of comics beginning with the fictional private detective named Slam Bradley who came on the scene in "Superman" in 1938. When looking up information on comic books, I found out that Benjamin Franklin created the first editorial cartoon called "Join or Die". It was published in 1754 in an American newspaper. Rudolphe Topffer created a comic strip in 1827 and then in 1837 created what is believed to be the first known comic book called "The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck". In 1842, it became the first comic book published in the United States. In 1895, Richard Outcault created "Yellow Kid" which is considered to be the first comic strip. "The reason being is that Richard Outcault was the first artist to use the balloon, an outlined space on the page where what the characters spoke was written. However, comic strips and comic books were published before 'Yellow Kid' debuted in the New York City newspaper 'The World'." "Brenda Starr" was the first cartoon strip that created by a woman in 1940 and was published in the Chicago Tribune Syndicate by Dale Messick. It was a comic strip that was like a soap opera with a working woman theme.

Over the years, comics and comic books made a pretty big impact on society. In the 1950's, comic books like "Tales of the Crypt" were censored due to their use of horror and terror in fear to what they might do to the minds of kids. It seemed like the more they were censored, the more people were drawn to different types of censored comic books. "Underground Comix" that wanted to "fight the oppressor" became popular among those that did not like their comic books to be censored. They were known as "comix" instead of "comics" because they were a bit x-rated. Comics still have an influence on society today and will probably continue to do so in the future as people continue to show their views and opinions through comics or cartoons.

Graffiti: Art Outside the Box of a Gallery or Museum

Before watching "Next: A Primer on Urban Painting" by Pablo Araveno and "Graffiti Verite", I was not aware of the gorgeous paintings that graffiti artists painted on walls. There were a lot of extremely good typography that was also painted on buildings. I believe that most of what I considered graffiti would be closer to just tagging or writing whatever, similar to what can be seen on Graffiti Bridge near the Pensacola Bay Bridge. Some consider graffiti to be a form of litter, not only because of the painted walls, but from all of the paint cans and other waste left behind when the painting is finished and the artists have long gone. They also tell about the cost of graffiti on the taxpayers, not to mention the environment. It is hard for me to see graffiti as a bad thing. This could be because those are not my walls and not my property littered with trash or my tax dollars being used to deal with the clean up.

Graffiti is a way of life based on the hip-hop movement. Timothy Werwath said that "graffiti is an indirect result and a modern response to the class struggle in America that has been going on for generations." While researching and looking for information on graffiti, I found an artist who was once a graffiti artist and while in college at Boston’s School of the Museum of Fine Arts, he was hired by Coca Cola to create murals for them. Richard Coleman took the opportunity while in college to learn as many different kinds of mediums as he could. He now uses experiences from his past that have ended up taking on a life of their own. After viewing several examples of graffiti from the two videos and ones on the Internet, I believe that most of those artists should be able to have a great career in art. It is a shame that more of them do not get the opportunity that Richard Coleman received. At the same time that I can kind of sympathize with those that consider graffiti a crime committed on property, the environment not to mention the cost passed on to the tax payer, I would hate to see graffiti whitewashed from society.

Skylar Fein- Brings to Light What Some May Consider Dark

When I went to the first Genius Loci of this semester, not to mention the first Genius Loci that I have ever attended, I did not know what to expect. The artist lecturer was Skylar Fein. I had no idea what to expect. I had never heard of Skylar Fein. He showed pictures and videos from different times and different countries of protests that escalated from students at a university and spread from teachers to businessmen and beyond. He showed how a mere college student that may feel like their opinions do not matter can matter and possibly change things and make a difference. While listening to his interesting and very informative and at times inspiring lecture, I kept expecting for him to connect what he had been bringing to light, for example how art can impact and change the world around it no matter how dark someone might feel the situation is. Well, the lecture ended and I still did not know what kind of art he created.



After Googling Skylar Fein, I found that he made a lot of graphic art. His works are exhibited in many galleries and museums from New Orleans to New York. He "came to the Crescent City six weeks before Hurricane Katrina to house-sit for an acquaintance in the movie industry. Returning to the flood-ravaged city after his evacuation, Fein, who is from the Bronx in New York, found a certain beauty in the wreckage, especially the aged wood coated with layers of cracked paint." He took a dark event in history, a tragedy to many and turned a lot of the rubble in to works of art. He ended up selling a lot of his artwork and his art career took off. At the end of the lecture, Skylar Fein told us that he believed that "artists are removing what really 'gets them' from their artwork". He said to "go for that scary thing" and to "go through that vulnerability, especially while you are students and have the support of your teachers". My favorite statement that he said at the end of the lecture was that "graphic design is important in social movements". That statement made me feel that possibly one day something that I created through graphic design could actually be important and that felt pretty good.