Back to the drawing board...

Christ, that was a bad pun, sorry about that.

Well. It's over. We had the opening of the MA exposition last night, which seemed to go well, then our group went and got nicely drunk! It was really nice to see everyone, especially as it doesn't happen that often, and nice to see everyone relaxed and having a laugh...

So now, it's on to new things... I'm hoping to carry Digital Me on, and write some more articles and do more interviews. It's really made me enthusiastic about the web again, and about understanding how it works, not technically, but as a network and all the things that might include...

Anyway, the next thing is a new comic! I haven't made a comic in years, not since 1994 when I made Eek! Comic, spending my dole money on photocopying and graphics pens. The idea for a new comic started when i did some illustrations for Plug Magazine, and they spoke about giving me a page a month to develop a strip. I spoke about it with Steve and Chris, and asked them if they wanted to do some writing, so we're meeting next week to start to put some ideas down. I really like the idea of using the tracing drawings I made from Second Life, so I'm going to use Second Life as a photographers studio, and set up shots in there. Good ol' Second Life!

I'm really glad to be getting back to comics, I love 'em! Every time I move house, I rediscover my collection of favourite comics and they always get a re-read. Recently, I re-read three books from Love and Rockets, Jaime stories mainly, set in a fictional hispanic area of LA. They are amazing, and the drawing is so beautiful. Jaime's characters are so beautifully realised, but so comic-y and graphic at the same time. When I first read them, they were a real relief from the emerging 'serious' comics scene. At the time, Superheroes were getting the - ooh, but aren't they a bit dark treatment, which has become the standard for nearly all comic characters since. That's not to say that stuff like Watchmen and Dark Knight aren't brilliant, it's just that they provided a template for a lot of much worse comics to follow! Love and Rockets though, had an amazing mix of comedy, wrestling, old-style superheroes, punk rockers all brilliantly realised in a believable if occasionally surreal world. They were also comics with really strong female characters, something all but non-existent in the other comics I was reading, especially Gilbert's Love and Rockets strips, which are beautiful. Of course I know that that's a huge generalisation, there have always been strong female characters in comics, but I suspect not so many you wished were your mates. They had a massive influence on me when I was younger, and having re-read them, I realise they still have an intense power. I can just look at the pages for hours. This one pic doesn't begin to do it justice, but you can see how great the drawing is;

I can't wait to get started on this new comic, I think I'm going to head home and get doodling right now!

Back to the Daft

When Nicola and Stu left, they had a party. The theme was Black and White. Here's my costume, fashioned from some flipchart paper, marker pen and Oatibix box.

Looking at it now, I think it was a wee bit sinister.

It's the opening of the MA exposition on Friday...

100+ MA Exposition 06

Nottingham Trent University is pleased to announce the opening of 100+, the 2006 Exposition of Masters work in the School of Art and Design.

We have a comprehensive range of one-year, modular MA courses, offering a unique structure for postgraduate art and design study in the UK.

Exposition opening times:

Saturday 25 November: 1pm-5pm
Monday 27 November to Friday 1 December: 11am-4pm
The venues for this inspirational collection of work are the newly refurbished Bonington building and the Victoria studios, both of which are located in close proximity on the Nottingham Trent University City campus.





Update :
Just heard on the news that Robert Altman has died. I know he had a good innings and that, but it's very sad. Short Cuts has to be one of my favourite films, but I also love Popeye, which is darker and more subversive than you imagine. He made a really amazing tv series, Tanner 88, about a republican candidate on the campaign trail. Brilliant. I think Bob Roberts may be based on it...

So Much I Want To Say

Hello! Long time no blog.

I've been really busy the past few weeks, finishing up my MA, and I'm glad to say that finally it's all over.

It's been the usual mad rush to get everything finished the way I want, and inevitably ended up with many late nights, typing in the darkness, and the usual computer problems that only appear when you've got a deadline to hit.

Digital Me is finished, and I'll be launching it officially next week as the MA exposition. I'm really pleased with how it's turned out, and the interviews have gone really well, I'm so grateful to all the people who took part. It's been quite a ride making the project, looking back on ten years of work on the Internet, and realising how important it's been in all my work.

It's also made me think long and hard about 'me on the web', which is why I've not blogged for a bit, because thinking about why we blog and who for has raised a lot of questions - is this blog a sketchbook, is it a portfolio, or is it a diary? I think I've used it for all those things. I've certainly used it as a portfolio, I've begun giving the URL to people who are interested in my work. I've used it as a sketchbook too, and a little bit as a diary. I've avoided mostly talking about my personal life, as I'm not sure how appropriate or interesting it is to talk about your life on the Internet. At the same time, I think the Internet invites honesty, so maybe it's important to reveal at least some aspects of yourself. Hmmm, I'm really not sure.

Nicola and Stuart

One of the main reasons I haven't blogged for a little while is a personal one. Nicola and Stuart, who are two of my closest friends, have moved away. It's hit me quite hard, harder than I though it would and I miss them terribly. I feel a bit lost wihout them to be honest, and a bit lonely too. Every time I tried to write a blog post about doodles or Second Life, what I really wanted to write about was that, but I felt uncomfortable about putting that out there. My draft folder on Blogger is full of draft posts of what I wanted to write!

So there. I've said it. I'm sad about Nicola and Stuart moving away. Next week, back to doodles and adventures in Second Life.

A couple of weeks ago, I started a new job as research associate at Animation Academy at Loughborough University. It's great! We've been doing loads of motion capture, but so far I haven't been brave enough to don the Lycra suit with the ping pong balls on, need to do some sit ups first! I'm going to start blogging the work there as I go, because it's really interesting and we're doing so much stuff. We've also got some great students coming through, and I'll post links to their films if they let me.

I think that's all I have to say for now, I'm off to begin Christmas shopping, as my Mum keeps reminding me how close it is.

By the way, the title of this post is from the title of a video broadcast performance by Mona Hatoum. Isn't that very arty of me?