G A N Z E E R . T O D A Y

Scanned in all the original art from TSG01 which forced me to look at it for the first time in a long time, realizing how drastically my line art has changed since I first started this ill-conceived project some nine years ago. Looking at those ancient pages, you can almost feel the weight of the world on my shoulders, stiff controlled lines, terrible worry. Not sure that comes across on the printed page necessarily, but certainly palpable on the original boards.

Lines loosen and glide a bit more on my latter pages, even in those scenes where I attempt to replicate the lineart from earlier pages.

Inking a couple pages today. A few orders need to be fulfilled, and a grocery run is in order, but dark windy skies threaten with hard rain.

#work #journal

Photo app is reminding me that it was this time last year that I was in Berlin. Such a great time connecting with friends old and new. This year, I have decided to stay put and go nowhere in the hopes of finally bringing TSG to completion. I find that every time I travel (or move studios/residences) I lose momentum, which takes time to regain before hitting my stride. Want to avoid any of that this year.

Everyone I know is leaving for the summer though. Understandable; the Houston heat can become a bit much, even for me. This however has put me in the position of caring for small furry creature this summer, belonging to the friend of a friend of a friend. After hiding for a few hours, I think she's finally starting to warm up to the place.

#journal

Awoke the other night at 3am for no apparent reason and started watching BECOMING KARL LAGERFELD on Hulu. Two episodes in and I'm into it. They've dubbed it in English though, with no option to view it otherwise, and I loathe dubbing. Would've much preferred to watch it in its original language (part French part German, I imagine?) and read subtitles instead.

I have come to realize however that I know nothing of Karl Lagerfeld other than the iconic look he has come to adopt later in life. A look that has pushed me to wonder such things as: What does Karl Lagerfeld wear to bed? Has Karl Lagerfeld ever gone for a swim? Has he ever indulged in street-food?

I may be inclined to pick up a book or two on the man, perhaps after I'm done reading FACTORY MADE.

#journal #watches #TV

Mad graffiti in the ghetto of Orson Wells on Mars.

For all the scenes on Mars in TSG, I've been inking with a brush as a sort of rule, but I may just have to make an exception for all that graffiti.

#work #tsg #comix

“Their marathon rehearsal sessions began on Friday nights. The next morning each of them ingested a blue tranquilizer and four quarts of beer and smoked a joint, and they then practiced until eleven at night. 'Our music evolved collectively,' Sterling Morrison recalled, and it combined rock and roll with the consciousness-altering musical discipline learned from La Monte Young. The group added guitar feedback and an electric viola that sounded like a jet engine. [Lou] Reed was inspired by now forgotten songs of the time: 'Smoke from a Cigarette,' 'I Need a Sunday Kind of Love,' 'Wind' by the Chesters, 'Later for You Baby' by the Solitaires. 'All those really ferocious records that no one seemed to listen to anymore were underneath everything we were playing,' said Reed.”

More from FACTORY MADE which I am thoroughly enjoying.

“The next problem was where they would play. The band didn't consider themselves to be entertainers, and there were few models on the music scene. 'Rock and Roll consisted of Joey Dee and the Starlighters, guys who played the uptown clubs and had matching suits,' Sterling Morrison said. They didn't want to be cute, like the Monkees, or sincere, like folk singers. Their image was aloof and nasty and urban. As Cale summed it up, 'Our aim was to upset people, make them feel uncomfortable, make them vomit.'

“They found a suitable venue for performing when another neighbor in their Ludlow Street building, underground filmmaker Piero Heliczer, invited them to play at the Filmmakers' Cinematheque on Lafayette Street for two events. Angus MacLise and Piero Heliczer described them as 'ritual happenings.' They featured Piero's films projected through veils hung between the audience and the screen. Multicolored lights and slides were superimposed on the veils, and on the stage were dancers. The strange and overwhelming sound that overlaid this intermedia action issued from behind the screen, where the band improvised their music. In its multimedia overwhelming of the senses and in the band's invisibility, this performance reflected the group's evolution and quickly defined a place for them in the avante-garde.”

Piero Heliczer reportedly struggled with schizophrenia throughout his life but was nonetheless productive.

#reads

Father's day be like:

#journal

“Ronald Tavel's ingenuity was tested on several fronts in the spring of 1965. He had to imagine and write scenarios that represented different genres, and he had to create them very quickly.”

For about six months, they shot a film every two weeks to be precise. This is again from FACTORY MADE.

“He had to formulate strategies so that the cast could deliver his lines, even though they never tried to memorize them.”

It's hard to think of Warhol's films having had any semblance of script prior to filming, but apparently they did and they're all available for download.

#reads

“He's a fag from New York, he's just a fashion thing, we've read his publicity, this is no serious artist.”

The response from the board of the ICA to the suggestion of a Warhol retrospective in February 1965. The ICA (the Institute of Contemporary Art) was a modest noncommercial art space at Wesleyan University in Philadelphia. Exhibiting there would hardly be considered a major career achievement. Warhol was in trouble though. Despite this being what may be considered the height of Warhol's much mythologized Factory years, he was hardly making any money and practically operating at a loss. It would also mark the first time for an artist to be offered a one-person show less than a year and a half after their first serious gallery exhibition.

Chairman of the board, Mrs. Horatio Gates Lloyd III decided to make the trip to New York and pay Warhol a visit together with ICA director Sam Green, a young recent hire who was pro Warhol, and who got the position out of sheer dumb luck (and connections).

From FACTORY MADE by Steven Watson:

“Warhol seemed uncommunicative, not responding to any of the diplomatic conversational ploys at which Mrs. Gates was so adept. When she asked Warhol about his interest in movies, he just looked at her and said nothing. 'Mr. Warhol,' she said, 'is there anything wrong?' Warhol looked at her and said, 'Uh, gee, Mrs. Lloyd, you are so great. I just think you're really terrific. Would you be in one of my movies?' Mrs. Lloyd reached for her pearls and said what a fascinating idea, what role did he have in mind. Warhol said, 'Would you fuck Sam?' When Green heard that, he thought, 'Oh God, there it goes.'

”'Mr. Warhol, what a very interesting idea and I'm quite flattered,' she said. 'However, you might realize that my husband is the administrative head of the CIA, and it might not be appropriate for me to play that role. Could you think of another?'

The retrospective was eventually approved and scheduled for the fall.

#reads

Late night inks on TSG. I reckon there'll be many such nights in coming weeks. Meanwhile, Garage.Ganzeer is being stocked with many original drawings and production art. Updates to Ganzeer.com to follow. Newsletter forthcoming this Saturday.

#work

Hot as balls in Houston these days, heavy rainstorms only make it more humid. But I'll still squeeze in a walk whenever I can, which begets me nothing but strange looks from the Houstonians in their cars. Nobody really walks around these parts, unless they are leashed to a dog.

I find that the less I walk, the less I'm able to think. No earbuds/podcasts/music for me thank you very much (except of course when I'm at the drawing board in the studio).

#journal