Kip's Lecture: 7

          The lecture was unusually boring today.  I suppose it's because I've already seen a lot of the things Kip was presenting.  But I do appreciate the refresher on how to achieve a visual personal narrative.  Kip took the definition of a narrative from David Antin, who said a narrative entails:

• a character that is faced with the possibility of transformation
• the character seeks or avoids transformation
• the transformation possibly elicits desire
• the transformation possibly carries a consequence or implies a becomes a mistake/regret

          Duane Michals is an artist who works in narratives.  He creates photos and hand writes text underneath the images.  The text enhances the meaning of the images.  Sometimes, the text merely describes the sequence of the imagery.

          Other narrative artists Kip talked about were Hans Haacke, who made the statement on the toxicity of the Rhine river by creating the Rhinewater Purification Plant (1972)  and Jim Goldberg, who photographed people and let them write about themselves (who he took inspiration from).  Kip also discussed comics in far more detail today.  This was the only part of lecture that I found really interesting.

          I have a new respect for Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes.  I have always loved Calvin and Hobbes because the entire premise of these comics is centered on how weird adults are from the perspective of kids.  But the fact that Watterson believes that marketing cheapens the integrity of any comic strip is a really great moral stance for any artist to take.  I really love all of the political statements he makes.

Calvin and Hobbes: Now with Ritalin!