FROM DUSK TILL DRAWN: Comics Art Studies and Graphic Narratives Composition, Workshops, Events & Zine Publishing @ Faculty of Communication Arts, Chulalongkorn University [Bangkok – THAILAND]
On Thursday September 29, 2022, we held a stimulating guest lecture and workshop with French non-fiction graphic-novelist, editorial cartoonist and animation director Aurel whose movie Josep was honoured by the 2021 César Award for Best Animated Film.
My warm thanks to Aurel for his time and enlightening and captivating insights, and to La Fête, Beyond Animation Festival and Clémentine Arfi for making this meaningful cultural exchange possible!
Analysing comics motif braiding, page composition, text/image interplay, abstraction tricks, variety of techniques and standpoint inversion in a remarkable 12-page sequence from the comics Singes by Aurel.
The workshop consisted in applying the various graphic non-fiction composition techniques discussed during the guest lecture to the comics adaptation of an imposed paragraph excerpted from the chapter A Race of Cooks in Yuval Noah Harari‘s book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2011/2015). The 35 participating students -from Faculties and Departments of Literature, Architecture, Communication Design, Communication Arts, Psychology and Chemistry- had 30 minutes to compose individually a 2-page comics breakdown (drawn draft) of the paragraph. After completion, Aurel’s own graphic take on the Sapiens paragraph in his comics Singes and David Vandermeulen & Daniel Casenave’s comics adaptation in Sapiens: A Graphic History were introduced to the students to compare radically different approaches. Each student’s comics breakdown was later commented individually by yours truly.
The Sapiens paragraph in Aurel’s Singes.The Sapiens paragraph in Vandermeulen and Casenave’s Sapiens: A Graphic History.
Here are some results from the students’ workshop:
By Communication Design student Gun.
By Literature/BALAC student Phuri.By Architecture/INDA student Cherry.By Communication Design student Fond.By Communication Arts and Myanmar student HsuHsu.By Communication Design student Kim.By Literature/BALAC student Kong.By Literature/BALAC student Kuku.By Architecture/INDA student Lookkaew.By Psychology/JIPP student Mimi.By Communication Design student Will (1/2).By Communication Design student Will (2/2).By Architecture/INDA student M-M. By Communcation Arts and Myanmar student Susan. By Communication Design student Palm.By Psychology/JIPP student Utter.
When abandoned by words, muted or silenced, Comics Art allows for different strategies to represent -or allude to- ‘invisible/invisibilized’ inner wounds, health and mental issues. These -usually overlapping- meaning-making strategies include, but are not limited to, the narrative use of colors, art/line style, textures and techniques (pencils, ballpoint pen, digital paint…), graphic embodiment of the characters, space-time interplay (space as time; contiguity of various moments/spaces/panels), braiding of visual motifs and visual metaphors, panels’ sizes and shapes, page composition (segmentation, layout, negative space…), text spatialization, speech balloons’ shapes and lettering, multi-modality (text-image dynamic; anchorage/relay, intertextuality), abstraction or suggestion (closure, gap between the panels). More on ‘the interaction between the medium of comics and the discourse of healthcare’, and the representation of (psychic) trauma, can be found on the website Graphic Medicine, and books such as Documenting Trauma in Comics: Traumatic Pasts, Embodied Histories, and Graphic Reportage (Palgrave Macmillan), Hillary L. Chute’s Disaster Drawn: Visual Witness, Comics, and Documentary Form (Harvard University Press), Harriet E. H. Earle’s Comics, Trauma and the New Art of War (University Press of Mississippi) and Eszter Szép’s Comics and the Body: Drawing, Reading, and Vulnerability (The Ohio State University Press) among many other publications.
Harriet E. H. ‘Earle suggests that comics are the ideal artistic representation of trauma. Because comics bridge the gap between the visual and the written, they represent such complicated narratives as loss and trauma in unique ways, particularly through the manipulation of time and experience. Comics can fold time and confront traumatic events, be they personal or shared, through a myriad of both literary and visual devices. As a result, comics can represent trauma in ways that are unavailable to other narrative and artistic forms.’
The following 17 ‘Traumics’ (comics on trauma) or Graphic Medicine narratives were produced by Thai or exchange students from various faculties (Psychology, Architectural Design, Language and Culture, Communication Design, Communication Arts, Engineering) at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, during the Covid-lockdowns in 2021 and 2022 as the final creative projects of two of my courses: Imaginative Media, a comparative course on the representation of Refugee Narratives and Psychic Trauma in various media (literature, comics, movies, tv series, dance/choreographies, paintings…), and Visual Media Studies, a ‘General Education’ course mostly dedicated to the study of Graphic Narratives and Comics Art. Both courses include the study of Psychic Trauma and its representations through a series of lessons based on the seminal works of psychiatrists François Lebigot, Louis Crocq and Sándor Ferenczi, and on my conferences on Comics as a Language of Symptoms of Psychic Trauma. All students were made aware of the challenging nature and content of the courses on the first lesson (and could choose to drop the course, or skip the triggering content/lessons); they were free to select their graphic narrative’s topic, but it had to be related to psychic trauma or any other mental/health issues, and to change their topic at any point, if the ‘graphic’ composition felt too challenging. Some stories are based on personal experiences, other are based on research by the students. In preparation of the composition of their graphic narratives, we’ve analysed pages from a dozen trauma-related short comics or graphic novels from the US, Canada, Taiwan, Vietnam, Belgium or France. Along the semester, students worked on various (constrained/experimental) comics composition assignments. During the last weeks of the semester, individual consulting sessions with yours truly were held, one to discuss the first layout and a second to improve some elements of the advanced draft of their comics. Most of the students had no prior art/comics training, and the following stories are usually their very first comics narratives. Most stories reveal the crushing weight of social pressure/conformity in Thailand (and Asia), and that -if comics studies were rightfully considered and fully integrated in the university curriculum- students would be able to produce many more sophisticated and meaningful graphic narratives on social issues and as a means of self-expression and of mindful communication.
Some pages of the Traumics/Graphic Medicine short comics and graphic novels analysed during the courses prior to the final creative assignment.
My deepest thanks to all my students as they were always fully dedicated to the ‘unconventional’ content of my courses and to the comics assignments they were given. More comics have been produced during these two courses, but some were either redundant with the stories presented here or need some additional editing before publication. More graphic narratives should be published online soon.
These ‘graphic’ narratives contain depictions of domestic violence, sexual abuse and harassment, child abuse, self-harm, suicide, eating disorders, body shaming, [cyber-] bullying, disasters/mass shootings, discrimination, nudity, offensive language, and more…
Reproduced with permission. All rights remain to the authors/artists.
Traumics by Thai student Mint (INDA, Faculty of Architecture). Two-pager comics.
Traumics by Thai student Mint (INDA, Faculty of Architecture). Page 1/2
Traumics by Thai student Mint (INDA, Faculty of Architecture). Page 2/2
Traumics on the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster which took the lives of 250 South Korean students, by Thai students Nattakit Pisitsup [Search] and Panupatr Limprasert [James] (Information and Communication Engineering, ICE; International School of Engineering, ISE). Pages 1 and 2 out of 4
Traumics on the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster which took the lives of 250 South Korean students, by Thai students Nattakit Pisitsup [Search] and Panupatr Limprasert [James] (Information and Communication Engineering, ICE; International School of Engineering, ISE). Pages 3 and 4 out of 4
Traumics by Thai student Khim Kanlayakon (CommDe). Page 1/2
Traumics by Thai student Khim Kanlayakon (CommDe). Page 2/2
Comics by Japanese exchange student Eirin. Page 1/2
Comics by Japanese exchange student Eirin. Page 2/2
Traumics by Thai student Torfun (BALAC; Language and Culture). Two-pager comics.
Traumics by Thai student Torfun (BALAC; Language and Culture). Page 1/2
Traumics by Thai student Torfun (BALAC; Language and Culture). Page 2/2
Graphic medicine narrative on polycystic ovary syndrome, by Thai student Nawara Pongsri [Klai] (BALAC; Language and Culture). Page 1/3
Graphic medicine narrative on polycystic ovary syndrome, by Thai student Nawara Pongsri [Klai] (BALAC; Language and Culture). Page 2/3
Graphic medicine narrative on polycystic ovary syndrome, by Thai student Nawara Pongsri [Klai] (BALAC; Language and Culture). Page 3/3
Traumics inspired by the Victoria Hall disaster(UK, 1883) by Thai student Chawin Sungkhapong [Tan] (International School of Engineering; ISE). Page 1/2
Traumics inspired by the Victoria Hall disaster(UK, 1883) by Thai student Chawin Sungkhapong [Tan] (International School of Engineering; ISE). Page 2/2
Traumics by Vietnamese exchange student Trang Pham (CommArts). Page 1/2
Traumics by Vietnamese exchange student Trang Pham (CommArts). Page 2/2
Comics, inspired by a personal experience, by Thai student Leila (Information and Communication Engineering, ICE; International School of Engineering, ISE). Two-pager.
Comics, inspired by a personal experience, by Thai student Leila (Information and Communication Engineering, ICE; International School of Engineering, ISE). Page 1/2
Comics, inspired by a personal experience, by Thai student Leila (Information and Communication Engineering, ICE; International School of Engineering, ISE). Page 2/2
WARNING:GRAPHIC CONTENT
Traumics on sexual abuse by Thai students Anna, Prim, Neng and Gene (INDA, Faculty of Architecture). Page 1/4
Traumics on sexual abuse by Thai students Anna, Prim, Neng and Gene (INDA, Faculty of Architecture). Pages 2 to 4 out of 4.
Traumics by Thai students Ant, Boss, Daniel, Nuno and Man (CommArts). Page 1/4
Traumics by Thai students Ant, Boss, Daniel, Nuno and Man (CommArts). Page 2/4
Traumics by Thai students Ant, Boss, Daniel, Nuno and Man (CommArts). Page 3/4
Traumics by Thai students Ant, Boss, Daniel, Nuno and Man (CommArts). Page 4/4
Graphic Medicine comics by Thai students Kat, Gift, Anna, Gun, Pleng and Pompam (CommArts). Page 1/4
Graphic Medicine comics by Thai students Kat, Gift, Anna, Gun, Pleng and Pompam (CommArts). Page 2/4
Graphic Medicine comics by Thai students Kat, Gift, Anna, Gun, Pleng and Pompam (CommArts). Page 3/4
Graphic Medicine comics by Thai students Kat, Gift, Anna, Gun, Pleng and Pompam (CommArts). Page 4/4
Traumics by Thai students Nana, Weal, Chacha, May, First and Care (CommArts). Page 1/4
Traumics by Thai students Nana, Weal, Chacha, May, First and Care (CommArts). Page 2/4
Traumics by Thai students Nana, Weal, Chacha, May, First and Care (CommArts). Page 3/4
Traumics by Thai students Nana, Weal, Chacha, May, First and Care (CommArts). Page 4/4
Traumics by -anonymous- Thai students (CommArts). Page 1/4
Traumics by -anonymous- Thai students (CommArts). Page 2/4
Traumics by -anonymous- Thai students (CommArts). Page 3/4
Traumics by -anonymous- Thai students (CommArts). Page 4/4
Comics by Thai student Wasita Uancharoenkul [Fune] (INDA, Faculty of Architecture). Page 1/6
Comics by Thai student Wasita Uancharoenkul [Fune] (INDA, Faculty of Architecture). Page 2/6
Comics by Thai student Wasita Uancharoenkul [Fune] (INDA, Faculty of Architecture). Page 3/6
Comics by Thai student Wasita Uancharoenkul [Fune] (INDA, Faculty of Architecture). Page 4/6
Comics by Thai student Wasita Uancharoenkul [Fune] (INDA, Faculty of Architecture). Page 5/6
Comics by Thai student Wasita Uancharoenkul [Fune] (INDA, Faculty of Architecture). Page 6/6
Comics by Thai students Panpornpach Musika [Pach] and Supharada Hirantrakul [Bambam] (JIPP, Faculty of Psychology), and Darapon Chaibal [Manao] (Faculty of Architecture). Page 1/5
Comics by Thai students Panpornpach Musika [Pach] and Supharada Hirantrakul [Bambam] (JIPP, Faculty of Psychology), and Darapon Chaibal [Manao] (Faculty of Architecture). Page 2/5
Comics by Thai students Panpornpach Musika [Pach] and Supharada Hirantrakul [Bambam] (JIPP, Faculty of Psychology), and Darapon Chaibal [Manao] (Faculty of Architecture). Page 3/5
Comics by Thai students Panpornpach Musika [Pach] and Supharada Hirantrakul [Bambam] (JIPP, Faculty of Psychology), and Darapon Chaibal [Manao] (Faculty of Architecture). Page 4/5
Comics by Thai students Panpornpach Musika [Pach] and Supharada Hirantrakul [Bambam] (JIPP, Faculty of Psychology), and Darapon Chaibal [Manao] (Faculty of Architecture). Page 5/5
During the second semester of the 2021-22 academic year, we welcomed spearheading Thai artists Peeraphat Kittisuwat, Faan Peeti, Superfah Jellyfish and Isaree Pipatpongsa who held workshops in three different courses, with the goal of introducing our Inter CommArts Thai and exchange students to new graphic and narrative techniques in order to develop their visual literacy & composition skills in preparation of their final creative projects.
A) “TRANSITION WORKSHOP” with Thai designer & cartoonist PEERAPHAT KITTISUWAT
February 22, 2022. First on-site guest lecture/workshop in 2 years! The Inter CommArts students of my Creative Writing (Section 11: Experimental Comics) course welcomed Thai designer and cartoonist khun Peeraphat Kittisuwat, founder of P. Library Design Studio. After introducing us to his different works (in experimental and live-drawing animation, mural painting, book design of The Art of Thai Comics…) related to his stunning cutout & double-sided non-linear comics leporello in-between, khun Peeraphat invited our students to play with his book’s print proofs to compose new looped graphic narratives by cutting/pasting/rearranging sequences with new “twists”. The 11 students presented their narratives at the end of the workshop, getting comments and feedbacks from our guest. PS: it felt good to get back to a communal creative experience with the students (while respecting all Covid safety measures).
Some works by guest artist Peeraphat Kittisuwat:
Students at work during Peeraphat Kittisuwat’s workshop:
Students’ presentations in front of the classroom, and some graphic narratives produced during the workshop:
B-C) “SHAPE & TEXTURE DOUBLE WORKSHOP” with Thai illustrators FAAN PEETI and SUPERFAH JELLYFISH
March 07, 2022. The Inter CommArts students of my Creative Writing (Section 10: Non-Fiction Graphic Narratives) course welcomed Thai artists Faan Peeti(book illustrator and cartoonist who explored creative panel layouts in her Manustrip series for a day magazine) and Superfah Jellyfish (painter, tattoo artist, and author of challenging old-school zines such as Having Sex First Time and The Intimates). They held two creative workshops exploring the symbolic use of comics panels/borders and body positivity through acrylic painting with markers. These were wonderful and inspiring midterm workshops meant to prepare the students for their final creative project. [All safety measures were respected with mandatory masks, hand-washing, and ATK tests before the lesson for all participants].
Our students with guest artists Faan Peeti & Superfah Jellyfish, and yours truly.
A short introduction, by yours truly, on creative uses of comics panels preceded Faan Peeti’s workshop.
Some works by guest artist Faan Peeti:
Opening of Faan Peeti’s first solo exhibition “Yindee’s Mysterious Friends” at River City, 2022.
Some works by guest artist Superfah Jellyfish:
Pictures from Faan Peeti’s talk and workshop on the creative use of comics panels/borders. Students were then asked to compose an autobiographical or autofictional comics page playing with the symbolism of comics panels/borders.
Pictures from Superfah Jellyfish’s talk and workshop on the creative use of acrylic painting and black markers to address body positivity.
D) “SHŌJO MANGA & RAPE CULTURE” TALK & WORKSHOP with Thai illustrator ISAREE PIPATPONGSA
March 29, 2022. Fourth and final guest lecture/workshop for the semester. The Inter CommArts students of my Imaginative Communication course welcomed Thai artist Isaree Pipatpongsa (Izary P. Pipat). Khun Isaree talked about her thesis Rape culture awareness campaign through the female perspectives and Shojo Manga influences (School of Fine and Applied Arts, Bangkok University), with an introduction to the history of Shōjo Manga, her take on the genre to address the issue of Rape Culture in Thailand, her thesis process and design concepts, and a presentation of the resulting [and stunning] A1 comics digital prints, animation and journey kit. The students then participated in a workshop, revisiting Shōjo Manga pages with various techniques (drawing, tracing paper layers, screentones, diplopia effect, collage…) to reveal insidious aspects of the Rape Culture. It was a fascinating talk and highly meaningful and creative workshop! [All safety measures were respected with mandatory masks, hand-washing, and ATK tests before the lesson for all participants].
Pictures from Isaree Pipatpongsa’s talk, with an introduction to the history of Shōjo Manga, her take on the genre to address the issue of Rape Culture in Thailand, her thesis process and design concepts.
The students got the opportunity to take a close look at Isaree Pipatpongsa’s stunning A1 comics digital prints and thesis journey kit.
Students were provided with relevant manga pages, and their tracing paper versions as well as screentone sheets. Applying various techniques (drawing, tracing paper layers, screentones, diplopia effect, collage, black-out poetry…), they composed new pages addressing the Rape Culture issue and the victim’s traumatic experience. Here are some pictures of the workshop, with guidance by Isaree Pipatpongsa, and of the class presentations and the resulting graphic narratives.
Our students with guest artist Isaree Pipatpongsa.
The inaugural post explaining the constraints of the #UltraVioletChallenge exercise is available HERE. Other results (part 2) are available there.
Here are 12 more #UltraVioletChallenge comics by CommDe students as a warm-up assignment for the “Introduction to Communication Studies” course (in 2021 and 2022). The goal is to create a figurative comics based on an imposed abstract comics, linked to the chapter on Semiotics (“Making Sense of Signs and Fragments”). Students were given one week to complete the assignment. Based on a constrained comics exercise used atPierre Feuille Ciseaux international comics residency-lab.
Imposed abstract comics page for the #UltraVioletChallenge
As an assignment for the “Visual Media Studies” course (GenEd course offered by the Faculty of Communications Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand), students from various faculties and departments (Architecture, Communication Design, Psychology, Engineering, Literature…) were asked to explore the concept of “windows on time in a single place” developed by American cartoonist Richard McGuire with his two stories titled “Here” (1989 in the pages of RAW, and 2014 as an extended graphic novel). The complete groundbreaking graphic narrative can be read on this post: “Here” by Richard McGuire.
Here are some of the results, tackling topics such as Thai political turmoil, adoption, Black Lives Matter, but also time travel, family ties and… cats. Many more results from the CommArts students are also posted on this page.
PS: click on the comics pages for higher resolution.
Comics by June (Malisa), student at CommDe Y3.Comics by Nat, student at INDA (Archi) Y3.Comics by Nattamon, student at INDA (Archi) Y2.Comics by Palmy (Thanita), student at JIPP (Psycho) Y2.Comics by Kaohom (Nannapat), student at INDA (Archi) Y2.Comics by Prim, student at CommDe Y3.Comics by Levi, student at INDA (Archi) Y2.Comics by Khem, student at INDA (Archi) Y3.Comics by Pang and Tawan, students at CommDe Y3. Page 1/2.Comics by Pang and Tawan, students at CommDe Y3. Page 2/2.Comics by Nina (Namida), student at INDA (Archi) Y2.Comics by Grace & Win, students at CommDe Y3. Page 1/2.Comics by Grace & Win, students at CommDe Y3. Page 2/2.
One of the main creative assignments of the “Imaginative Communication” course [a Comparative Media course in which we explore the theme “How to Tell the Unutterable” by analyzing and comparing the depiction of Psychic Trauma in various visual media, from comics to animated & live-action movies, tv series or choreographies] is for the students to compose and produce a group performance based on refugee narratives. After visualizing refugees’ journeys graphically [see previous assignment “Refugee’s Grid and Gestures“], watching some related footages [Charlie Chaplin’s 1916 The Immigrant, Wilfredo Rivera’s immigration choreography The Golden Bird Cage, or PositiveNegatives’ animated zoom-comics North Star Fading], reading/watching comics and webcomics [Shaun Tan’s The Arrival, Marc Ellison and Didier Kassai’s immersive graphic novel House Without Windows, or our former students’ refugee comics dice], discovering refugee installations [architect Mohamad Hafez’s multi-media installation Unpacked] and analyzing and comparing Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel and animated feature Persepolis, students were asked to compose a live pantomime performance of 3′ to 5′ [depending on the number of team members]. The constraint was that their refugee characters had to remain silent, voiceless, muted by the trauma, unable to speak the language of their ‘host’ country, or fearing to speak their own language and have their illegal/foreign status revealed.
Unpacked multi-media installation by Syrian-born architect Mohamad Hafez.
Page from the wordless comics The Arrival (2006) by Shaun Tan
Due to the COVID-19 crisis and while productions were well underway, performances couldn’t be presented live anymore for obvious safety reasons. Early March, students were asked to film and edit their performances as video footages so that their works could be screened online. On Wednesday March 26 in a virtual classroom, our 40 students introduced and displayed their video performances which were evaluated and commented by songwriter, performer and former [Performing Arts] CommArts student, Namtarn Jinwara (KhopKhunKhrap!) and yours truly.
I am really proud of these works, sometimes created under unexpected COVID-related logistic constraints. The brave team of exchange students -while scattered throughout the world to reach safely their native countries- managed to create an imaginative piece on their way home or while held in quarantine facilities… Below, you can discover film stills from the students’ projects, but also some of the actual performance videos. Here are the numerous choreographies, but also some creative short drama films, which sadly -and timely- echo the ongoing and future displacements of refugees caused by Climate Change, COVID-19 and other crises. Ajarn Nicolas Verstappen
Film still from the refugee performance video Hope of Dawn by students Pim, Pranang and Milk [with performers from the Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University]. A journey from Syria (contemporary dance) to Germany (ballet).
Film still from the refugee performance video Hope of Dawn by students Pim, Pranang and Milk [with performers from the Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University]. A journey from Syria (contemporary dance) to Germany (ballet).
Film still from the refugee performance video by students Paar, Palmmy and TuktaClick on pic to launch video.
Film still from the refugee performance video Disconnected by students Ben, Eve, Frongki, Pecky and Plai
Film still from the refugee performance video Lost Boyby students Gam, Ink and Por [with perfomer Cathrin Ballmer]
Film still from the refugee performance video by students Beam, Eye, Jean and RikaClick on pic to launch video.
Film still from the refugee performance video Life of a Little Refugee by students Bee, Fay, France, May and Mine
Film still from the refugee performance video by students Earth, June, Lily, Praew and PrimClick on pic to launch video.
Film still from the refugee performance video by students Boat [perfomer], Jinny, Pop and SmileClick on pic to launch video.
Film still from the refugee performance video by exchange students Alexandra, Meg, Núria and PureClick on pic to launch video.
Film still from the refugee performance video by students Ellie, Ice [performer], Nam, Nanz and Pin
Film still from the refugee performance video by students Ellie, Ice [performer], Nam, Nanz and PinClick on pic to launch video.
Film still from the refugee performance video by students Paar, Palmmy and Tukta
Film still from the refugee performance video by students Paar, Palmmy and Tukta
FURTHER COMMENTS
Namtarn’s comments and mine were usually revolving on issues of clarity and meaning. Some performances could have been made more engaging and relatable through the narrative and recurring use of simple objects [as in the Dardenne brothers’ films] or indentifiable gestures developed as motifs. Another point was the lack of “feeling of space” which might be a crucial element in refugee narratives (belonging, borders, in-between…). Most performers move through wide empty rooms and one reason is, of course, related to COVID-19 constraints: most teams couldn’t find a safe, fitting and available location for the shooting. Yet, as we discussed during the session, there were some simple options. I mentioned the German Expressionist films‘ painted set designs which could be emulated with some black and white paints on cardboards.
Another reference provided was the set design of Lars von Trier’s 2003 feature film Dogville. Bold white lines on the floor may end up being quite effective.
Questions were also raised about production as I felt some works were slighlty too slick, sometimes missing the roughness of the refugee experience. On the other hand, some students were concerned that the quality of their videos had been impaired by production problems caused by the COVID crisis. I mentioned that improvisation and DIY approaches actually benefited the production; and I mentioned the DIY aesthetic of French director Michel Gondry on numerous music videos and movies, and mostly his lesser-known 2008 Be Kind Rewind feature film. Some excerpts were screened: The Chemical Brothers’ Let Forever Be MV, The White Stripes’ The Hardest Button to Button MV, Massive Attack’s Protection MV or Björk’s classic Bachelorette MV.
As a conclusion, I mentioned that all performance videos had a grim and dark tone and that other approaches were possible. Thinking about a Martin Parr aesthetic, I mentioned Dario Fau’s colorful and caustic music video Dégueulasse by Caballero and JeanJass. But all in all, I’m a #ProudAjarn, as I was so impressed by the involvement and dedication of my students on this meaningful project in a time where the fate of refugees is even more thrown into jeopardy, and invisibilized in the main news outlets. Ajarn Nicolas Verstappen
I’m feeling relieved you didn’t state the opposite. ;^) Love you too! Stay safe!
Bangkok, 11 February 2020. This semester for the “Imaginative Media: [How to Tell the Unutterable]” course at the Faculty of Communication Arts (Chulalongkorn University), our distinguished guest is khun Nana Wipaphan Wongsawang, founder of the Thai Consent platform which aims at providing [testimonial and illustrated] references for victims of sexual abuse who need useful materials to understand themselves better. An inspiring & challenging talk on the critical issues of sexual abuse, rape culture, consent and representation. After studying the mechanisms of Psychic Trauma and its depictions in tv series, movies, choreographies or graphic novels, our students will compose trauma-related short comics [or #Traumics] on sexual abuse, and will present them to khun Nana in a month. Later, students will also propose various [innovative] campaign ideas to promote & support the Thai Consent platform.
Also on FaceBook: Thai Consent
Thank you/merci/khopkhunkhrap khun Nana!
Khun Nana Wipaphan Wongsawang, founder of the Thai Consent platform, with the students of the International Program in Communication Management, Faculty of Communication Arts, Chulalongkorn University.
Khun Nana Wipaphan Wongsawang, founder of the Thai Consent platform, discussing issues of representation.
During the second lesson of the “Imaginative Communication” course [a Comparative Media course in which we explore the theme “To Say the Unutterable” by analyzing and comparing the depiction of Psychic Trauma in various visual media, from comics to animated & live-action movies, tv series or choreographies], I asked my Thai & exchange students at the Faculty of Communication Arts (Chulalongkorn University) to do the “Grid and Gestures” exercise developed by Nick Sousanis, professor of Humanities & Liberal Studies at San Francisco State University, and author of the groundbreaking comics dissertation Unflatteningpublished by Harvard University Press in 2015.
[Course: Imgt Comm, 2800217, International Program, CommArts, Chulalongkorn University, 20 January 2020, with 35 students]
Above and below: CommArts students at work on the “Grid and Gestures” exercise
The purpose statement for the exercise provided by Nick Sousanis is as follows:
“So here’s how to think about Grids & Gestures. Quickly, have a look at your ceiling tiles or other grid-ish things around you. If you then imagine putting these features to music, you might have regular long notes on the tiles, some shorter notes, and maybe rapid staccato beats on a ventilation grill. Ok, now come back to a comics page – and think about the idea that in comics, time is written in space. Comics are static – and it’s in the way we organize the space that we can convey movement and the passage of time. Unlike storyboards, to which comics are frequently compared, in comics we care not only about what goes on in the frame, but we care about the size of the panel, its shape, orientation, what it’s next to, what it’s not, and its overall location within the page composition. The way you orchestrate these elements on the page is significant to the meaning conveyed – there are some strong correspondences between comics and architecture in terms of thinking about the way the entire space operates together.
Having briefly thought about this, I want you to take a single sheet of paper (any size, shape will do) and drawing with a pencil or pen, carve it up in some grid-esque fashion that represents the shape of your day. It can be this day, a recent day, a memorable day, or a typical/amalgamation day. And then inhabit these spaces you’ve drawn on the page with lines, marks, or gestures that represent your activity or emotional state during those times represented. The emphasis here is to do your best to not draw things. (You can always do that later!) And also, you can leave space blank on your page – but that has to mean something. This isn’t writing where you can finish a final sentence mid-page. Every inch of the composition is important in comics – so be aware of that as well. Finally, when I do this in class or with groups, I give people about 5-10 minutes to do it, so they have to make decisions quickly. Try to give yourself a similar limit.”
Above: CommArts student at work on the “Grid and Gestures” exercise
“Grid and Gestures” by Thai student Nanz. Description: “(1) I wake up late so I started the page with the cloud shape which refers to my dream. Then I have to hurry to take a shower and prepare myself to go to the University. I go to university by BTS [skytrain] and the station is crowded. When I arrive at the station near the campus, I notice that the sky is gloomy. (2) Suddenly, it starts raining. I’m stuck at the station and I’m worried I’ll be late in class. Moreover, I’m hungry since I forgot to eat something this morning. I have to figure out the way to reach my Faculty on time. I try to book a Grab taxi but there is no response. I have to walk under the rain to try to catch a taxi. (3) Finally, I reach the Faculty and I’m in class on time. When the course is finished, I come back home and take a shower. Before going to bed, I watch a movie on Netflix. Then I go to sleep. :)”
“Grid and Gestures” by Dutch exchange student Meg
“Grid and Gestures” by Thai student Paar
“Grid and Gestures” by Thai student Ink
“Grid and Gestures” by Thai student Palmmy
“Grid and Gestures” by Thai student Por
“Grid and Gestures” by Japanese student Pure
“Grid and Gestures” by Japanese student Rika
Adapting the exercise to depict a refugee’s journey
After this first exercise was completed, I asked the students to draw a second “Grids and Gestures” page but, instead of depicting a personal day/travel/experience, they had to draw the perilous travel of Syrian refugee Rania Mustafa Ali, 20, who had filmed her journey from the ruins of Kobane in Syria to Austria.
“Her footage shows what many refugees face on their perilous journey to Europe. Rania is cheated by smugglers, teargassed and beaten at the Macedonian border. She risks drowning in the Mediterranean, travelling in a boat meant to hold 15 people but stuffed with over 50. Those with disabilities are carried across raging rivers and muddy fields in their wheelchairs.” (The Guardian).
During the 22′ footage, some students drew the “Grids and Gestures” of Rania as her narrative was unfolding while other students preferred to take some notes and draw Rania’s grid right after the end of the film.
Students watching, drawing and/or taking notes during the projection of Rania’s footage.
Student Paar drawing Rania’s “Grid and Gestures” during the projection.
Student drawing Rania’s “Grid and Gestures” during the projection.
The outcome has been positive as students focused [more than usual] their attention on the emotions and struggles experienced by the refugees, trying to capture Rania’s emotional states, and discovering -as they were drawing on a limited space- the physicality and volume of incessant ups-and-downs (hopeful/hopeless…) and turns of events (wait/treks/dead ends/returns) faced during these precarious and usually dramatic odysseys. I’ll try to find time to study the results of this experiment in detail, and see if it tends to raise awareness/mindfulness (Sati/สติ) and empathy towards refugees. A promising exercise.
Here are some of the “grids and gestures” depicting the journey of Syrian refugee Rania Mustafa Ali and composed by CommArts students:
Ranias’s journey by Thai student Nanz.
Ranias’s journey by Thai student Palmmy.
Ranias’s journey by Japanese student Rika.
Ranias’s journey by Thai student Paar.
Ranias’s journey by Dutch exchange student Meg.
Ranias’s journey by Thai student Por.
Ranias’s journey by Thai student Ink.
Ranias’s journey by Japanese exchange student Pure.
#ToSomeExtentChallenge: in-class creative assignment (“Introduction to Communication” course), at the International Program in Communication Design (CommDe, Faculty of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand) on Monday 13, 2020; the 46 fresh.wo.men were asked to create -in teams of 2 or 3 participants- a graphic narrative within an imposed L-shaped layout, and to consider the spatialization of the narrative elements. Duration: 60′.
The constrained comics exercise was developed for the first “student” edition of the international comics residency-lab atPierre Feuille Ciseaux on January 2019. The L-shaped layout is based on two comic strips dating from 1895 & 1905 (see below) found on the website Töpfferiana.
Inspiration: two comic strips dating from 1895 & 1905 (see below) found on the website Töpfferiana.
CommDe fresh.wo.men @ work!
And if you want to play with us, here are the 4 different layouts (with 4 or 5 panels).
The inaugural post explaining the constraints of the #UltraVioletChallenge exercise is available HERE. And more results are available there.
For this post, I wanted to display results by students who never pursued any drawing formation. The 3rd and 4th Year Performing Arts students of my “Imaginative Media” course accepted the challenge, and the results are again interesting and varied… and fun!
#UltraVioletChallenge: “Making Sense of Signs (and Fragments)” in-class creative assignment (“Imaginative Media” course, Thai Program, Faculty of Communication Arts, Chulalongkorn University); create a figurative comics based on an imposed abstract comics (duration: 90′). Based on a constrained comics exercise used atPierre Feuille Ciseaux international comics residency-lab.
from-dusk-till-drawn.com 