Today I visited Serieteket, a part of Deichmanske Library in Oslo devoted to comic art. They were hosting a seminar about the dramaturgy in cartoons and picture books. The focus was on innovation and the creative possibilities that lie in this field of art. Several artists were invited to talk about their work, some of them known for pushing the boundaries of the "craft", like the talented Mari Kanstad Johnsen.
Belgian artist Dominique Goblet talked about her work with experimental cartoons, and mostly about her reclaimed autobiographic graphic novel, "Faire semblant c'est mentir", which was recently released in norwegian (“Den som later som lyver”, No Comprendo Press). The book is drawn/written based on her upbringing, with an alcoholic father and violent mother, and a no-good boyfriend. She talked about finding the right distance to the subject matter, as this story, off course, was very personal and painful for her. She chose to draw out selected scenes from her past, and stitch the pieces together as a patchwork. It took her ten years to complete, and she was only able to write at times when she didn´t have contact with her mother. When asked she said that the process of writing this book had an therapeutic effect on her, as she afterwards no longer felt the need to share her story with anyone she met. I think it is really impressive how she has used her difficult background to create this beautiful piece of book art.
She also presented another personal project. The 600 pages thick and two kilos heavy art book, "Changements”, with portraits she painted of her daughter weekly for a ten year period. At the same time her daughter made portraits of her, and the two images are presented side by side on each spread. Props to her french publisher for having the guts to publish a “cartoon” like this. Goblet herself calls it a cartoon, because the images are put together in a sequence. No matter what you call it, the book is a beautiful art object.
Belgia has proud history in comics, and has produced great classic cartoon artists, such as Hegré and Peyo. Goblet represents a new wave of more experimental comic artists.
There were also other artist talks, but sadly my time was limited. But all in all a very inspiring day, so thank you!
