collaboration

Suzan-Lori Parks/The Civilians' "Action in Inaction"

Illustration

365 PlaysI drew a play, and my drawing is the play. (Along with some whale sounds.)

The prolific Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks undertook an amazing challenge in 2002–2003, when she wrote a short play every single day for a year. The result is the 365 Days/365 Plays National Festival, which from Nov 13, 2006–Nov 12, 2007, is presenting the work simultaneously across the country, creating the largest collaboration in the history of American theater. The plays may be performed in one night or over the course of the entire week. That, in addition to where and how they are produced, is up to each participating company.

In New York City, The Public Theater is spearheading 365NYC. Over the course of this year, over 60 selected theater companies — curated by The Public and the 365 Days/365 Plays National Festival — is performing these brief, brilliant plays. Each week, selected theater companies are producing one week’s worth of plays, each ranging from one to five pages in length. The theatre group I work with, The Civilians, are producing this week of 365, from April 23 to 29.

In addition to presenting the plays live this week (and later as part of the whole month of plays at the Public), The Civilians are also presenting the plays on their website. Civilians director Steve Cossen asked me to help, by adapting one of the “constants” (short plays which are eligible for presentation by all the theatre groups at any time during the year), entitled “Action In Inaction.” And this is what we came up with. (Make sure the sound is turned on in your computer!)

Personally, I find it an amusing — and shall I say thought-provoking? — presentation of the script. Others may scoff. Your reaction?

P.S. The Civilians will also present the plays as a hybrid live and recorded event Thursday, April 26, 9pm; Friday, April 27, 9pm; and Saturday, April 28, 4pm, at the Barrow Street Theatre, in New York’s West Village. Free; email kyle@thecivilians.org to reserve. The live version of the plays will be reprised for The Public Theater’s First Sundays Series on Sunday, May 6, at 3pm and 7pm. To reserve, call 212.967.7555 from 10am to 9pm, Mon-Sun, or visit the Public Theater Box Office, 425 Lafayette Street (between Astor Place and East 4th Street).

"Father Outside" times three

Work

I just discovered this: the Academy of American Poets has posted “Father Outside,” one of my poem-comics collaborations with Nick Flynn, on their website.

I really like the way they present the piece in three formats: the original poem in its text form, Nick reading it aloud, and our collaboration.

(This piece — along with two other collaborations I did with Nick — is published in The Vagabonds #2.)

Misc. horn tooting

A.D., Publicity

My mother Martha Rosler wrote, and I drew, a two-page comic (entitled “Scenes From an Illicit War: From Planet Invisible”), which has just been published in Silvana Editoriale’s System Error: War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. The book is a companion piece to an art exhibit of the same name (co-curated by Papesse head curator Lorenzo Fusi and New York- & Dhaka- based artist Naeem Mohaiemen) taking place at the Palazzo Papesse Centre for Contemporary Art in Siena, Italy (though May 6). I also have a couple of other war-related pieces (which can be read online here and here) in the System Error book.

Meanwhile, Nick Flynn & yours truly’s latest poem-comic, “Bag of Mice,” is printed in the March–April 2007 issue of World Literature Today, a special issue dedicated to “graphic literature” (and also featuring such notable names as Jessica Abel, Lynda Barry, Anders Nilsen, and Joe Sacco).

In addition, A.D. protagonist/AntiGravity magazine publisher Leo McGovern interviews me about A.D. in the new issue of AntiGravity, which coincides nicely with the brand-new A.D. Chapter 1: “Riders of The Storm,” now live on SMITH (And mentioned in an earlier post. Whew; busy day.).

The Vagabonds #2 is here!

Work

Finally! I’ve had copies for a week or so, but the book hits comix shoppes today.

Collaboration has always been part of my comix repertoire (viz. American Splendor, Keyhole, Titans of Finance. etc.), and The Vagabonds #2: “Of Two Minds” continues that tradition. In the book, I illustrate stories by (among others) Harvey Pekar, Duplex Planet‘s David Greenberger, Titans of Finance‘s R. Walker, award-winning poet/memoirist Nick Flynn, literary cult figure Eileen Myles, artist Martha Rosler, The Beatles, and the New York downtown theater company The Civilians. Published by Alternative Comics, The Vagabonds #2 features 17 (!) stories in 32 pp. — all for $3.95.

I’m really happy with how the book came out. It’s slightly oversize, has a nice matte coated cover, and the artwork is printed in chocolate brown ink on cougar tinted paper. So please check it out, and if your shop doesn’t have it, please ask them to order some copies.

This Thursday @ Broadway branch of the Queens Public Library

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  and I will be representing American Splendor at the Broadway branch of the QPL this Thursday. Host Michael Sherer will quiz us about working with writer Harvey Pekar on the series, and we’ll discuss the process of illustrating comics from script to finished product. The discussion will be accompanied by slides of comic art in various stages of completion, and a Q & A session will follow. Should be fun!

Thursday, August 24th at 6pm
The Broadway Community Library Auditorium
40-20 Broadway, Long Island City, NY.
[R or V to Steinway. Ride as close to the front of the train as possible. When you exit, just walk up the stairs closest to the front of the train. You’ll be on Steinway about half a block from where it intersects with Broadway. Walk up to Broadway, take a right, and the library is the building next to Rite-Aid.]

THE VAGABONDS #2 “Certified Cool” in the August PREVIEWS

Publicity, Work

The August Previews catalog (for comics shipping in October) is now in stores, and it features my solo book THE VAGABONDS #2 — with a “Certified Cool” rating! Thanks, Diamond!

You can find the listing on p. 222. The book is published by Alternative Comics. The Diamond Order Code is AUG062933. The catalog also features relistings of THE VAGABONDS #1 (2003) and TITANS OF FINANCE (2001), if you want to complete your Neufeld collection. Please consider pre-ordering a copy, and please tell your local comics retailer(s) to order some for his/her other customers.

Here’s some more info about THE VAGABONDS #2:

Xeric Award-winning cartoonist Josh Neufeld returns with The Vagabonds #2: Of Two Minds, featuring an array of Neufeld’s comics collaborations. Collaboration has always been part of Neufeld’s comix repertoire — with Dean Haspiel in Keyhole and R. Walker in Titans of Finance, with Duplex Planet Illustrated‘s David Greenberger, and with American Splendor‘s Harvey Pekar (still ongoing). And in The Vagabonds #2, that tradition continues — with some strange twists and turns. Contributors include Pekar, Greenberger, Walker, artist Martha Rosler, award-winning poet/memoirist Nick Flynn, literary cult figure Eileen Myles, and the New York downtown theater company The Civilians — as well such offbeat collaborators as The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby,” a 1980 issue of Superman, and Neufeld’s own mirror reflection! A good collaboration is a conversation between artist and writer, each challenging the other, with the result truly being Of Two Minds.

THE VAGABONDS #2 is purple ink on cream paper, 32 pages, oversized, 7-3/4″ x 9-1/4″, $3.95. ISBN: 1-891867-17-2. Diamond Item Code: AUG062933; Oct. 2006. More info and samples here.

thanks to chatterbox_dc for the boilerplate.

Patriot Acts with The Civilians

Illustration

The Civilians have put me to work again, doing an illustration for a fund-raiser they’ve got coming up in May. The benefit is in the form of a concert, with various progressive-minded celebrities singing patriotic songs, so my mission was to come up with an image which conveyed music & patriotism — with an undercurrent of subversiveness/irony.

With the aid of Artistic Director Steve Cossen, I did the illustration shown here, inspired by the famous image of Marlene Dietrich from Blue Angel. As Steve remarked, there’s something wonderful about this prototypical American icon being a fusing of French statuary and German pose!

Here’s info about the benefit concert, which will be held Monday May 8th, 7:30 pm, at The Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, 60 Washington Square South:

Patriot Acts: an American Vaudeville
Patriot Acts is a celebration of inspiring music about our country, featuring classic and contemporary songs that champion democratic ideals. Organized as a benefit for The Civilians theater company and co-sponsored by The Nation magazine and the Skirball Center for the Arts, Patriot Acts brings together a diverse array of musicians to give expression to a rich tradition that is rooted in fairness, equality, freedom, justice — a tradition that values dissent and puts forth a vision for citizenship counter to prevalent ideas of militarized nationalism. Through an evening of vibrant performances, Patriot Acts reclaims the progressive context of many of the leading icons of our patriotic culture, a context of which many Americans may be otherwise unaware.

The words to “America the Beautiful” for example, were written by feminist and social activist Katharine Lee Bates; the poem was originally included in a collection protesting US imperialism in the Philippines. Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land,” inspired as response to “God Bless America,” sings about America’s beauty but also poses a challenge in the last and often omitted verse:

One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple
By the relief office I saw my people.
As they stood hungry I stood there wondering
If this land was made for you and me.

From these classics, Patriot Acts traces a musical landscape from songs like “The House I Live In,” a 1945 hit for Frank Sinatra, to contemporary songs by politically engaged artists. The concert also features songs from The Civilians recent show (I Am) Nobody’s Lunch and others. Patriot Acts is inspired by the article “Patriotism’s Secret History,” by Peter Dreier and Dick Flacks that appeared in The Nation magazine.