In Conversation with NOU.
I have been seeing NOU’s work online and in her zines for a year or two now. I’m always confronted and mystified by the drawings and comics. Last week, as I dwelled on what kind of material I wanted to bring to the ‘Our Comics, Ourselves’ tumblr, I realized NOU might have some feedback on some of the thoughts and questions I was milling over. This is part of the conversation we had via email:
Lately, I’ve had a more difficult time reading comics where an author is trying to tell me who they are or convince me of an idea they have. It’s not at all that I don’t think words are useful in comics, but I think artists can also effectively represent their identities through abstract moments and through formal things even like the way someone draws shapes or uses colors, how fast or slow a sequence moves, or how authoritative or passive the use of line is. That’s why I thought of your comics because you don’t seem to be spelling anything out to anyone- you offer something emotional. I’m prescribing words for your work right now, I don’t know what you’re trying to do, ha. I guess I’ve been thinking about the idea “show, don’t tell” as being something to strive for personally, a good way to give a reader something real. (In a recent interview with Erik Nebel, they actually had an excellent answer about this about! I’ll be posting that shortly)
I agree! I don’t actually like reading comics with lots of words nowadays, so I totally get that. Especially if you’re on Tumblr, I think a lot of people probably don’t want to read giant blocks of text or a huge think piece somebody wrote about a book they read while going through their dashboard, unless they do and I’m just too cynical haha.
I don’t think you’re prescribing at all! That sounds pretty spot on to me, I am a big music person and something I really like about music is how easily emotions and atmosphere is communicated without having to spell it out verbally or include a pamphlet to explain the meaning of everything to people or smth. At a point, even if the song has lyrics, they’re sort of irrelevant and the only thing that matters is the mood, how it makes you feel. I listen to music while I do EVERYTHING, so I can see that influencing how I present my storylines for sure. Not sure if I’m doing this thought pattern of mine justice right now, I’m not the best at explaining stuff.
Ah, I like that! I think creating an atmosphere can be the same thing as representing a complex attitude. It’s not like, explaining any ideas - it’s a way others can feel your 'mood’, yea, and just sit in your head without having to analyze.
You’re involved in graffiti as well as comics, I imagine it can feel like juggling two identities… one requires you to be anonymous. It sounds really appealing to be secretive, but maybe it is also harder to share things and get feedback. Like have you ever been really excited about some art you put up on the street and wished you could talk to someone about it? Or are you satisfied, like- you are claiming it for yourself? When you do graffiti is it for your own personal interest, like as a way to take control of public space and assert yourself. Or is it a generous thing, like you are giving up authorship by being anonymous in order to make art a part of public life? Is there compensation for you… Or what is your motivation?
I mostly do it to challenge myself. I don’t really think of it necessarily as me being generous or asserting myself. I just like it, and I just think it looks good (when they’re outside as opposed to on a canvas.) Most of the time things get painted over by the city or whatever, but in the end it’s just fun to do, it’s fun to get the photo, and then look back on the memory. It’s like a sport I guess.. There’s a lot of tactic to it as well. I personally get really happy when I see throws around town with super bright colors or that just look really good - I’m never gonna be able to do anything like that, but being able to add my own art around town makes me feel good too. You almost have to do it for yourself otherwise you’d be pretty disappointed, most people don’t notice graffiti unless they’re looking for it.
I actually rarely tell people that I am an artist, it makes me uncomfortable. I think that’s why I was drawn to graffiti, because it’s sort of a given that you will just have a secret community of peers where none of you know anything about each other aside from what art you do and what your made-up name is for yourself.
I think anonymity is sort of freeing and I like that, even though I don’t really make anything offensive where I’d need to be anonymous to protect myself, I like not having to censor myself as much when I’m just putting art around the city. I don’t think about all this much, really, so its possible I sound like a moron.
Of course as I get more involved with other people/collaborations, and making “traditional,” art, on paper, scans ect whatever, identity becomes more necessary. And, there’s certain things that I am afraid to draw about and post online, or make comics about, the more it becomes inevitable that people who know me in person will find out that I draw.
With comics you can have an anonymous identity. Right? Online you can have a different name. In print too. Having a table at a book fair might be a challenge. Is this an asset or a hinderance?
You can, in theory, be anonymous yes. I don’t use my birth name anywhere, and that is it’s own separate identity. But you’d still have to have something, you know? I have a way for people to contact me, I have social media, I have a blog. Even if I never say anything, it’s still a way to reach out. Plus, doing zine fests and stuff, as much as I’d love to not be there and pay someone else to do it for me, I have to be the one sitting at the table selling my stuff! Usually I go by a different name for that too, different than the name I use for street art and on my blog. (I have actually had my friend pretend to be me at a zine festival which was funny.)
That’s so good!
Well, thanks for being so generous with your ideas and sharing about yourself- writing with you about this has been really fun. Maybe we will meet in person someday, or maybe I will meet someone who I think is you but it’s actually one of your friends. That would be cool in weird way too haha. Take care.
Thank you:) Thank you:)
