FoolishPeople

The Marvel: Richard Carbonneau

The Marvel: Richard Carbonneau In keeping with the shows new theme of DIY art, Joseph Matheny talks to Richard Carbonneau, author of the comic story of the life of Jack Parsons, called: The Marvel as well as other great web comics. Also, a new episode of A Concise Guide to Setting Yourself on Fire with Kara Rae Garland.

Alan Moore: An extraordinary gentleman

As the world recovers from the onslaught of the Watchmen movie and its omnipresent marketing campaign, the spotlight has yet again come onto Alan Moore – its comic book creator, guru of the graphic novel and mystical man of mystery. And yet again, the spotlight has been desperately sweeping the stage only to find he hasn't turned up. He'd be easy to spot if he did – a giant of a man, always dressed in black, with formidable facial hair and large rings on every finger – but he's the archetypal reclusive writer. 

Amid the chatter of debate on the merits or otherwise of Hollywood's rendition of what is generally agreed to be "the greatest comic-book story ever", Moore has maintained his usual dignified silence and stayed put in his hometown of Northampton. On the day I spoke to him, he had already turned down a profile in Time magazine and an interview with CNN, stating that he was busy preparing for a forthcoming benefit gig at the Frog and Fiddler, a local pub. 

"I am aware of the immense power of absence," he says. "I'm not being completely disingenuous here. Of course I'm aware it doesn't hurt my reputation, but I'm not playing hard to get as some publicity ploy. I'm genuinely busy with stuff that is really important to me." 

Novelist, magician and 'guru of the graphic novel' Alan Moore talks to Steve Rose about Watchmen, the dark side of Hollywood and the morality of pornography.

Mythos Media - State of the Union 2009

 

"Amidst all of the turmoil that has occurred both in the US and abroad in 2008, many of the media giants are stomping around blindly. There is no better time for truly independent groups of artists, musicians and myth makers to band together to collaborate, share and grow their myths. This is why Mythos Media formed in 2006-2007, and it remains our singular goal. The time is ripe now, but we need to meet each other halfway. 

The purpose of this mailer is to alert you to what we have been doing over this past year, and what we look to create in 2009. The days of purely passive media are through. Sure, everyone likes to unwind and watch a movie from time to time, but always existing in that state of consumption leaves people shut-down, and isolated. This is why social media is exploding, even if major corporations are trying to turn the Internet into an ad-laden, vapid wasteland. 

We all need stories that we can participate in, and a framework for us to collaborate and create work together. This is our goal moving forward- not only building our own myths but creating a sandbox for you to build your own as well. We believe static media like books and DVDs are merely entrance points into interactivity, collaboration, and the creation of new myths in the future, using technologies that are still being refined even as we speak. We hope you join us."  --James Curcio, Christmas Eve, 2008.

Black Ops  - Unfortunately, some of the biggest things that we have in store for 2009 can't be shared publicly yet. These will include some interesting collaborations between DPRGRM, The FoolishPeople, and Mythos Media, and new technologies that will make it easier for all of us to produce and broadcast our art/myths.

Visit Mythos Media now for a ton of incredible free music, art and literature.

In Acknowledgement

FoolishPeople would like to say thank you to the following people for their hard work and devotion to the project. Each of you have played a significant role in manifesting 'Terra:Extremitas' and it has been a pleasure to work with you all.

Our hosts: Everyone who works at the PickUpClub and the NDSM-werf, especially Marc Koolen and Eric Bijleveld.

Our sponsors: comic store Lambiek, uitgeverij Oog & Blik, stripblad De Inktpot and BeamSystems.

Our supporters both emotionally and financially: Yolanda Jesse, Larry Bath, Greet Berkhof, Elly Jesse, Fred Kohl, Felix Mensingh, Stripmakersforum, Joyce, Finn, Gage and Karen Harrigan, Helen and Peter Allin, Michiel Mensingh, Maud Bredius & Vittoria Russo.

All the participants who helped create the world of Terra: Extremitas: Doug O'Neil, Philippe Garcesto, Chrisitan Patracchini, Richard Webb, Christina Mitrentse, Jonas Ranson, Spax, Wes Unruh, Joseph Matheny, James Curcio, P Emerson Williams, Sonica Storm, Ikipr, Teresa Donohoe, Orryelle Defenestrate-Bascule, Skratte, Michiel Mensingh, Samm Hain, Reinhard Schleining, Ilse Versluijs, Pieter van Oudheusden, Maarten Gerritsen, Joshua Peeters, Alice Kok, Albo Helm, Peter Moerenhout, Mattt Baaij, Stephan Brusche, Swahili, Sandra Kleine Staarman & Pepijn Schermer.

Our wonderful photographer: Cecile Mella

The free roaming fools of Terra:Extremitas: Daniel Rakish, Ulf & Nina Boas.

The other free roaming performers: Nathaniel J. Harris, Jasmine, Anton & Perdita. 

James Curcio would like to thank the following people for their contribution to 'Darkness to Light/Light to Darkness': Jason Stackhouse, John Harrigan, P. Emerson Williams (Choronzon), Scott Landes, Jon Siren, Marz233 and the 233project.

Teresa Donohoe would like to thank: Apjiw, Moabi and Ocosi for their contribution to her sound pieces.

To all the members of FoolishPeople who have been central in developing the event: Lucy Allin, Yiri T. Kohl, Maggie de Heer, Victoria Karlsson, Tereza Kamenicka and Claire Tregellas.

And finally to the man who created this place (T:E): John Harrigan.

Bast: Soft, velvet, pounding, prowling the bounds. 

Dyl: Shifting the patterns of belief so the tide flows our way. 

asmadai: The fire in our blood.

Lilith: Glorious mother, sharing her archetypes with us.

Dionysus: Sharing the wine of creative delirium with us.

Ganesh: Holding the pillars of our narrative and removing obstacles.

Moon: Showering us with the mysteries, bestowing your beauty upon us. 

The beast of the FP egregore, becoming the God Zero.

Terra:Extremitas- Albo Helm

Albo Helm has been professionally involved in making comics, cartoons, illustrations and graphic designs for 3/5 of his life. His work is mainly published in magazines and publications in the cultural, educational, political and special concerns sector. Every now and then he makes his own book or magazine or has an exhibition of his work. Apart from that, he's fine, thanks. You can see his stuff at: www.albohelm.nl

About Albo's work:

"Why I draw comics is a hard one to answer. Being more than 30 years in 'bisnis', it has literally grown to be a part of daily (and nightly) life. So normal I don't think about it anymore. During this time I did a lot of different stuff, from short newspaper gags, biographical documentaries, infographics, SF-series and extremist political agitprop to booklength senseless train-of-thought meanderings. I prefer working for existing printed media over bringing out my stories as autonomous work, because that way I can reach many different audiences. I love participating with other artists in adventurous settings to learn from them and chase each other to greater heights."

'Pure Vernunft Darf Niemals Siegen' Preview, created for 'Terra:Extremitas'

About Terra:Extremitas: "Reality clashing with fantasy is something every creative mind likes to chew upon, and being a SF-buff the End of the World is well known territory to me. It was only natural to step into T:E when it popped up. In my comic strip contribution I focused on the process of creation itself and the deeper question what is real about reality, without getting too abstract I hope. Starting point was a great song by the German rock band Tocotronic (Pure Vernunft darf niemals siegen), a plea for fantasy and madness, which I tried to put 1-on-1 into pictures. Doing so the whole thing got out of hand, as it was supposed to do..."

Terra:Extremitas- Mattt Baay

Somewhere in the dark time before internet, Mattt Baay was born. When he found out you could die a horrible death being a fireman, he decided he'd rather be a writer - but the drawback in this fantastic plan was that he needed linguistic skills for it. He settled for four years of Art Academy, after which he received a piece of paper that said he could tell stories with pictures. Nowadays there are occasionally people who will pay him money to draw or animate pictures. And sometimes there aren't. In which case he eats dry bread.

For strange stories without letters by Matt, go to www.bunbun.eu.

Mattt's comic, created especially for 'Terra: Extremitas'

Terra: Extremitas- Sandra Kleine Staarman

"My name is Sandra Kleine Staarman, I am the woman behind Littlestarman. I was born in 1982 and have been scribbling and drawing ever since I could hold a pencil. I finished my studies in history last year, but after four days working as a historian I decided I wanted to pursue my passion and become a comic artist. Ever since I’ve been traveling and drawing. I currently live and work in a sqatted village in the Spanish Pyrenees. I live in a small house right under the church tower, together with a small cat and a wild self-made drawing table... and lots of inspiration!"

Preview of 'The Sleep of Reason', created by Sandra for 'Terra:Extremitas'

"I'm not even a big reader of comics. Although I have my favorites like Hilgar (Tank Girl), Frezatto (Bout du Monde) and Moebius. But most of all I like to read the work of other young Dutch comic artists like Aimee de Jongh and Floor de Goede. Together with Pepino (Pepijn Schermer) I form a small collective called the Amsterdam Comic Guerilla, that makes independent prints. I’ve been drawing a daily webcomic on Littlestarman for over two years and got a Dutch-Belgian award for this work. Right now with all my travels I mostly have to put myself down and do some speed-drawing. Usually a week or so. My first long story was ‘Il est 5 h 35 a Bagdad’, an independent print. My second longer story was called ‘Other Life’ and is published in ‘De Lijn’, a dutch comic magazine. Furthermore I drew ‘Sciappo’ in Italy and worked in Berlin on ‘Camhead’, a comic accompanying a film for the IFFR 2008. Right now, living in the Spanish mountains there are several more projects to be worked on: for Crap*, an independent magazine by Maia Machen, and for Inkt, a new Dutch comic magazine."

Preview of 'The Sleep of Reason', created by Sandra for 'Terra:Extremitas'

"The theme of Terra:Extremitas fascinated me from the first moment at the Comic Fair in Haarlem where Margreet told me about it. The setting where art or fiction comes alive to judge humanity leaves lots of space for personal interpretation. I love to ask questions in my comics, and I like them to leave the answer to the reader. In this comic the question is what is real and what is fiction? The story is circular. The end could be read as the beginning as well. I hope to confuse my audience. Provoke speculation about what the story is, and what it means. Enjoy it!!"

Terra:Extremitas- Pieter van Oudheusden

1957. Academy of Art, Rotterdam. Writer of comics and children’s books. Graphic novels: Spertijd (Curfew, art by Adri van Kooten, 2005), De grote toveraar (The great wizzard, art by Jeroen Janssen, 2007). Next book: Metromonsters (Subway monsters, children’s book with illustrations by Sebastiaan Van Doninck). Translations: French (La fille sans coeur, 2007), German, Portugese, Danish, Korean, Japanese. Publishes in Dutch comic magazine Zone 5300. Lives in Rotterdam. Wife Annette. Daughters Fay and Nana. Two old cats.

'Lilith' Preview
Story by Pieter van Oudheusden, Art by Maarten Gerritsen

Terra:Extremitas- Maarten Gerritsen

'Lilith' Preview, created for 'Terra Extremitas' Written by Pieter van Oudheusden & Illustrated by Maarten Gerritsen

Maarten Gerritsen (1977) is a Dutch illustrator and cartoonist. After graduating from Communications Studies and ready to enter the advertising industry, he started working at the Jan Kruis Studio instead. Here he sharpened his drawing skills further by working on the weekly family comic 'Jan, Jans & de kinderen'. Soon he started to do other freelance drawing assignments as well. Nowadays Maarten works entirely on a freelance basis. He's created illustrations and cartoons for various companies and magazines, as well as storyboards for small films and music videos, though his greatest passion is comics. Besides 'Jan, Jans & de kinderen', he recently drew a story for Donald Duck Magazine and frequently works on his own material such as stories for 'Bloeddorst', 'Myx Magazine' and 'Terra: Extremitas'. He prefers to work in different styles, varying from cartoonish and Disney-like to more realistic and dramatic. Always attempting to make his next drawing better than the previous one, Maarten hopes to spend many years to come exploring the many ways of 2D visualisation.

Comic about Terra:Extremitas

This comic about the TERRA-event will be in Dutch newspaper Trouw next week... It's all in Dutch, but you may get the gist of it: