They're like snowflakes

Monologuist paper update supplemental number iii: Take 2

So... these little folded screenprinted portfolios were supposed to be done in time for Autoptic last August. I even listed them on my store site at the time. And got some orders. As it turns out, I didn't finish them until last night. This is the front cover, in its sleeve with a little sticker on the front:

The project exemplifies everything I hate and love most about screenprinting.  I re-burned the screens about six times each before I gave up and paid Wes at Burlesque to do it for me. I changed my mind twelve or thirteen times about the colors. Usually in mid-stream. At one point things weren't working quite right and I decided I needed a new image/layer and since they were so late I decided to cut it out of black paper rather than draw it, scan it and have to get a new film made. I didn't think I had enough time for all that. That was about three weeks ago.

And that was one of the surprising things that turned out to work. I'd never done that before. I'm a terrible printer for many reasons, but one of the main ones is that I can't resist the temptation to make changes as I go. At a certain point in the process – orders for the prints were two months late by this time – I decided to embrace the temptation. Sometimes your worst enemy turns out to actually be your best friend.

So now they're done. In the end the piece is more a collection of monoprints than an edition. None of the individual pieces is quite the same as any other. As I went along I also started using the discard pile as part of that screwing around process. And I liked those as much as the actual piece itself. So there's a test print included in each package with the real piece. It's like Crackerjacks.

The finished piece is a bunch of variations on some collage comics and drawings from my sketchbooks. The inside was printed by Burlesque, 4 colors approximating CMYK. The outside was printed by me as described above in between 5 and 6 colors depending on which one you get.

To order and see the giant lovely disaster for yourself, go here. Individual results may vary.

San Francisco Sketchbook

Would there be cute pugs peeing on shrubbery in the Garden of Eden?

Friday morning I'm flying to San Francisco to go skateboarding. Also for APE. At which, Sunday at 1:30 in the afternoon, I'm going to read a bit from Rage of Poseidon and talk a little about why I'm always stealing characters from other people's stories. Jesus, Hercules, Captain America... the guy with the cow head who lives in the maze and eats people who come to visit him, stuff like that. The list is just endless. Which, like, why don't I just come up with my own shit for once? Jeez. Here's Prometheus from Rage of Poseidon:

So, I'll be talking about the new book, but also about a bunch of other images and stories of mine where old situations and characters have shown up in my work and why. Below are a few examples of stuff I might talk about. In order: Hercules Ascending to Olympus, Adam and Eve Sneaking Back into the Garden of Eden to Steal More Apples (detail) and Last Remnant after the End of the World (Tree of Knowledge)

This weekend I'm hanging out with all sorts of cool people

I'm doing two events this weekend. Friday I'm in Chicago for Brain Frame, reading from Rage of Poseidon (a few copies were shipped in for the event – currently available NOWHERE ELSE). With Anya Davidson, Keilor Roberts, Jeremy Tinder and more.

 Then I get swallowed by a giant mechanical bird and regurgitated in New York for the Brooklyn Book Festival. I'm on a panel on Sunday with Audrey Niffenegger and Frank Santoro talking about myth, fable and how to draw togas and talking birds.

Click here to find out what really happens after you die

I recently did an interview with Andreea Saioc for the Global Panorama about The End. I don't blame anyone for skipping it – the sad violins have been on repeat, lately – but the conversation's second half turns to a slightly deeper than usual examination of the nature of death and its place in culture, which was a welcome addendum to the conversation.

This Weekend

At SPX this weekend, as part of Bob Sikoryak's Carousel, I'll be reading from my new book Rage of Poseidon, which is debuting at the show. The book actually began its life as a slide reading and didn't become a book until later, so I've read some of the pieces here and there in the last few years, but there are two brand new pieces, one of which – a piece about Noah and the flood from the perspective of the angel Gabriel – I'll be presenting for Carousel, along with some stuff about Leda and the Swan, the Goddess of Love and the son of God. All in 8 minutes. It's happening at 5:30 on Saturday.

...

help.