17 Traumics and Graphic Medicine narratives by Chulalongkorn University students (2021-22)

How do we communicate the unutterable?

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.’

On Harriet E. H. Earle’s Comics, Trauma and the New Art of War (University Press of Mississippi)

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.

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 by Mooksuda Chingnawan [Mook], Papichaya Indhavivadhana [Book]
Anchisa Asvahem [Ploy] (CommDe). Page 1/3
Traumics by Mooksuda Chingnawan [Mook], Papichaya Indhavivadhana [Book]
Anchisa Asvahem [Ploy] (CommDe). Page 2/3
Traumics by Mooksuda Chingnawan [Mook], Papichaya Indhavivadhana [Book]
Anchisa Asvahem [Ploy] (CommDe). 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 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

Four Creative Workshops (2022)

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.

 My warmest thanks to khun Peeraphat Kittisuwat, khun Faan Peeti, khun Superfah Jellyfish and khun Isaree Pipatpongsa for these wonderful talks and workshops!

Ongoing Research: Jamnong Rodari [จำนงค์ รอดอริ], the forgotten Siamese comics master

00 Jamnong Rodari
“Raden Lundai” [ระเด่นลันได] tier by Siamese artist Jamnong Rodari [จำนงค์ รอดอริ] , c. late 1932

Kingdom of Siam, 1932. If the pre-1960s Thai Comics production is a lost continent, some artists -such as Prayoon Chanyawongse, Sawas Jutharop or Hem Vejakorn– are well-known from local aficionados. To the best of my knowledge and in the literature I’ve been able to access over the past 5 years, only two lines are mentioning Jamnong Rodari (จำนงค์ รอดอริ; brother of best-known illustrator Fuen Rodari), hailed as one of the greatest cartoonists of the 1930s. Not much more on his art; I only saw a fragment of a comics strip at the National Library of Thailand, and two series of beautiful book illustrations. So I was thrilled to get my hands on a collection of comic strips cut from 1932 Siamese newspapers [miraculously unearthed in an attic], and discover his stunning long-form comics which are said to have influenced prominent cartoonists of the late 1930s. Here are two excerpts. First is the upper-tier of his 48(?)-page comics adaptation of then-famous play Raden Lundai; or the Pauper Prince (ระเด่นลันได; a parody of the classic “Inao” play), with additional captions in Klon-16 versification below the panels, probably from late 1932 [there’s an ad for Chaplin’s 1931 City Lights at the back, and American films were usually screened in Siam one year after the US release]. Character design and gestures might be informed by the traditional Nang Talung (หนังตะลุง) shadow puppetry [as was suggested to me by my kick-@ssistant Bird]. Second excerpt [which I edited as I wanted to show the three-panel dance sequence which is allocated over two tiers in the original] is even more interesting as it unveils an example of realist-art long-form comics seven years before Hem Vejakorn’s Sri Thanonchai. Also unusual; the story is set in contemporary Siam -and is a “migrant” narrative- under the title KatunNaiBoPhachoenChok (การ์ตูนนายโบ้เผชิญโชค; The Comics of Mr. Bo who seeks his fortune [in Bangkok]). Drawn in late 1932 [as the newspaper banner was not cut from the first comics installment]. It appears that these two comic strips series -with two different styles and genres- were drawn by Jamnong Rodari in late 1932 or early 1933.

One question is left unanswered. Why was Jamnong Rodari forgotten from Thai Comics History while being hailed as “one of the greatest Siamese cartoonists.” I would venture that, unlike contemporary artists such as Sawas Jutharop and slightly later Prayoon Chanyawongse, Jamnong Rodari didn’t collect his serialized stories in comic book format. Sawas and Prayoon’s comic strips collections are known, and might have helped their names and works to be remembered in the following decades. No trace, so far, of any collected works of Jamnong. Might be a lead. [EDIT: a collection of Raden Lundai was recently sold on internet, so at least one collection of newspaper strips in comic book format was released]. Nicolas Verstappen

PS: These are not my favorite excerpts from the series; the most stunning pieces will come later, in another format [if current COVID-crisis doesn’t shatter this research project].

00 Jamnong Rodari 2
“KatunNaiBoPhachoenChok” [การ์ตูนนายโบ้เผชิญโชค] edited tier by Siamese artist Jamnong Rodari [จำนงค์ รอดอริ] , late 1932. Two opium traffickers want to take revenge on Mr. Bo who lost their opium load by accident. As Mr. Bo is in a dance club, they approach him by dancing together but Mr. Bo is saved by the club dancer in a bold move.

#MeanwhileHereComics #การ์ตูนที่นี่ Challenge 1/2

As an individual assignment for the “Creative Writing Section 11 [Experimental & Fiction Comics Composition]” (International Program, Faculty of Communications Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand), students 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. Some of our students’ comics are displayed below in this post. More will be added soon.

mcguireHere_001
First page (out of six) of the short comics Here by Richard McGuire, published in RAW Volume 2 #1, USA, 1989. Full story… here.


The graphic narratives produced by my Thai [and exchange] students were inventive and striking, as some explored not only the COVID-19 crisis but addressed social and political issues in a straightforward way, revealing Thailand’s traumatic decades made of military coups and bloody crackdowns. I guess the assignment came timely, capturing the frustrations of a new generation of young adults, revealing visually the overburduning and endless cycle of coups and sociopolitical struggles. With my students and with Richard McGuire’s approval, we decided to set the assignment as a challenge and invite everyone to take part, as we believe that in these times of self-isolation, it might be interesting to widen the limited and constrained space we now inhabit by exploring it through time.

“Like how does something happen, and… how does it reverberate through time? And that act of memory is important, and comics are great for memory. Like even when you have a short comic, like a three-panel comic, you’ve got a past, a present and a future as soon as you look at those three boxes. And that allows you to reflect and compare times.” (Art Spiegelman, in: Conan, N. (2011). MetaMaus: The Story Behind Spiegelman’s Classic; radio interview, Oct 5)


OPEN-ACCESS LAYOUT

So here’s the layout that you are free to use [click on the image for larger version], and please add the hashtags #MeanwhileHereComics and/or #การ์ตูนที่นี่ (‘KatunTiNee’ which means “Here Comics” in Thai language) so that we can follow your artworks online.Thank you in advance for joining!Meanwhile Here Template


“Time, as cut into minute sausage slices and laid out on the [comics] page in an array from which larger connections and patterns may be sensed, is the cartoonist’s ‘paint’ or ‘clay.’ […] Trying to communicate the hugely incomprehensible yet indescriptibly fine texture of life in little reconstructions sort of mirrors the way we remember it… Really, when one come right down to it, in the end, that’s all we have: our memories!” (Chris Ware, in: Why I Love Comics. The New York Times , 2015)


OUR STUDENTS’ COMICS

#MeanwhileHereComics pages by students of the “Creative Writing Section 11 [Experimental and Fiction Comics Composition]” course. More will be added soon. In the captions below some pages, I’ve introduced links to some local/Thai events referred to in the graphic narratives. PS: I’m proud of my students’ hard and meaningful works. #ProudAjarn

Meanwhile Here by Jib
Click on page for larger size. Panel 1 [1932]: Siamese Revolution leading from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional one. Panel 2 [1976]: Student protests and Thamassat University Massacre. Panel 3 [2006]: 2006 Coup d’Etat. Panel 4 [2014]: 2014 Coup d’Etat (and Red/Yellow Shirts conflict). Panel 5 [2030 & 3,000 Years Ago]: reference to 2020 news on the Government giving up part of prehistoric cave painting site for mining. Panel 5 [2020]: ongoing University Students Protests for a fairer democratic system.
 

Meanwhile Here by Mind
Click on page for larger size. Panel 3 [2019]: waves of harmful [Particulate Matter] PM 2.5 levels in the air.
 

Meanwhile Here by Palmmy
Click on page for larger size. Panel 1 [1934]: tree growing two after the Siamese Revolution leading from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional one. Panel 2 [1976]: reference to the [graphic] photograph of Pulitzer Prize winner Neal Ulevich showing a junta supporter striking the lynched body of a student with a foldable chair in front of a cheering crowd, during the Thamassat University Massacre. Panels 3 and 5 [1976]: reference to the same photograph (lynched student). Panel 5 [2020]: ongoing University Students Protests for a fairer democratic system, with students making the “three-finger [Hunger Games] salute” in a sign of defiance against military rule. Panel 6 [2020]: COVID-19…
 

Meanwhile Here by Pim
Click on page for larger size. Panel 1 [2012]: reference to the Democracy Monument which commemorates the 1932 Siamese Revolution. Panel 4 [2020]: COVID-19…
 

Meanwhile Here by Proud
Click on page for larger size. Panel 4 [2020]: COVID-19…

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Click on page for larger size. Panels 1 and 6: Chinese-type funeral altar above which a portrait of the deceased person is placed.

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Click on page for larger size. Panels 3 and 6 [1868]: reference to the famous Thai ghost story Mae Nak (where the spectral nature of a female ghost is revealed to her husband when she stretches her arm oddly to pick a fallen lime).

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COMPOSITION PROCESS

As these “constrained comics” & concept are quite challenging, composition was achieved over a couple of weeks, and with the submission of several drafts commented by yours truly… via the Line app due to current COVID-19 crisis. If you want to spot the differences, and see how every minute detail [from color to fonts or encapsulation] matters in comics composition where “each element is thus: one with everything” (Nick Sousanis in: Unflattening, comics dissertation published by Harvard University Press, 2015).

MIND HERE PROCESS
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Guest Talk with French Cartoonist Freddy Nadolny Poustochkine

February 03, 2020. An honour and a delight to welcome our first guest of the semester for the “Graphic Non-Fiction” (autobio/documentary comics) course at the Faculty of Communication Arts (Chulalongkorn University): French cartoonist Freddy Nadolny Poustochkine! We talked Time, Space, the Fabric/Material of Memory and Comics Art in his creative process from his autobiographical comics La chair des pommes (ego comme x) to his Cambodia-set La colline empoisonnée  (Futuropolis) and his ongoing project; and of the seminal importance of (his) sketchbooks. After an intro -by yours truly- on the interplay of Time & Space in comics by Richard McGuire, Lilli Carré, Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons & Rick Veitch, Frank Miller, Kevin Huizenga, Chris Ware, Art Spiegelman, Matt Madden, Nick Sousanis and Kiriko Nananan. Three challenging but captivating hours! Merci Freddy!

Freddy 00
French cartoonist Freddy Nadolny Poustochkine with the students of the International Program in Communication Management, Faculty of Communication Arts, Chulalongkorn University.

Freddy 03
Guest talk with French cartoonist Freddy Nadolny Poustochkine

Freddy 05Freddy 04

“Thai Consent”, guest talk & traumics composition

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!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
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.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Khun Nana Wipaphan Wongsawang, founder of the Thai Consent platform, discussing issues of representation.

#ToSomeExtentChallenge

#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 at Pierre 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.


Idylle Lucy L-shape
Inspiration: two comic strips dating from 1895 & 1905 (see below) found on the website Töpfferiana.

CommDe fresh.wo.men @ work!


YL 3

YL 7

YL 2

YL 4

YL 6

YL 5

YL 1


And if you want to play with us, here are the 4 different layouts (with 4 or 5 panels).

Click on the layouts for larger sizes:

To Some Extent 4b

To Some Extent 4a

To Some Extent 5bTo Some Extent 5a

Polyptych Workshop in Taiwan (Sept 2019)

It was a challenging but wonderful 4-hour workshop on “Polyptych Constrained Comics” in Taipei with amazing Taiwanese and Malaysian cartoonists on Sunday, 22 September 2019. They did great on one of the most complex comics structure [where narrative sequences unfold on a continuous background]. It was such a pleasure to work and share with these talented folks! Thank you all for participating, Huang Pei-Shan and Slowork Publishing for the invitation, Carole Wenyao for translating, and ASW Tea House for hosting!

Workshop 05

Workshop 01

#UltraVioletChallenge – Part 2

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 at Pierre Feuille Ciseaux international comics residency-lab.

Imposed abstract comics page #UltraVioletChallenge
Imposed abstract comics page #UltraVioletChallenge

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#UltraVioletChallenge by Performing Arts students Day and Prang.

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#UltraVioletChallenge by Performing Arts students Mean and Save.

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#UltraVioletChallenge by Performing Arts students Mui, Kitty and Dome.

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#UltraVioletChallenge by Performing Arts students Kay and Mew.

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#UltraVioletChallenge by Performing Arts students Gene and Yongyong.

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#UltraVioletChallenge by Performing Arts students Coon, Earth and June.