HEY APATHY! The Inkmobile

Alternative Comics The Inkmobile

A little internet fun with the folks at Whitechapel.The truck was made by Mr Fred G. and posted with a blank side panel for left for the rest of us online arts people to fill in. I prefer interacting with real people but really enjoy some of the online communities, especially in the winter when there aren't many people wandering around.  Here's another one for the whitechapel remake contests ( it's just for fun no prizes except conversation).

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HEY APATHY! Free Alternative Webcomics

A modern portrait of a romantic robotic serenade taking place on an invisible couch in an invisible room. Despite the apparently barren interior the all of life’s little pleasures and necessities are available with the aid three small devices: A nourishment technology, a communication and business notebook and the socializer machine. While all of this is amazing, the MAKING TECH PERFECT corp. has plans for including not only all of the aforementioned applications, but the user him/herself into a thumbnail sized cellular phone in time for next years holiday boom.

 

This drawing was actually inspired by a more positive and interesting occurrence from my daily life. For years now I’ve been taking part in weekly jam sessions with a group off avant-garde musicians. Although primarily recreational, we have been able to incorporate some of our musical experimentations into my animations and live performance art. One of the musicians, Hunter Vaughan, has been carrying this huge bag of percussive instruments, flutes and calimba’s to every practice. However a week or two ago he showed up with nothing but a couple of iphones with all sorts of new music apps. With the exception of the flute, almost every sound he once made with shakers, blocks and vibes, were now coming out of the phone. Surprisingly it worked really well and  Hunter doesn’t have to deal with 60 pounds worth of gear. Still I don’t see a total replacement of acoustic instruments happening in our jams but the combination is certainly worth exploring. At any rate the new phone apps got me thinking about space and scribbling about robots in this weird post-Bradbury ink stained nightmare. See more Pen and Ink Drawings.

13 Stories, Forbidden Tales of the impending Apocalypse

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics

In even the most pessimistic of tales, therein lies the brilliance of hope. For the act of putting pen unto paper is expressively optimistic, presenting others an opportunity to grow. That being said, I made a goal for myself to create 13 short illustrated stories before this upcoming New Year. I’d no real intention towards developing such nasty and hopeless fables as I did, in fact I’d no inclination towards writing anything at all,  it just sort of happened. Having abandoned street art performances as a means of promotion/communication in favor of working online and with arts councils & committees, I discovered a sudden and urgent dependency on the written word (stumbling through these poorly conveyed thoughts it’s a wonder I’ve survived this long!).

At first this meant endless hours of essay writings attempting to explain myself and persuade investors or patrons to give me money. That got boring but I knew my writing needed a lot of work so I started making things up. I decided to practice writing the same way tht I approach the development of visual artworks and decided on a series of 13 stories which, theoretically, could be compiled as a print publication. The process then involved a lot of sketching, unedited writing done directly in this blog. After a while some of the stories sort of stuck with me so I’d proceed to do drawings and prepare them for the “online book”. I went through a number of my drafts this evening and think I’ve all the shorts sorted now. Very early this January I’m going to take a few days to edit the h—l out of them and post all the work in it’s intended  format. Inspired by the prospects of completing this little experiment I laid down a quick pen and ink illuminated text drawing and a couple of weird faces (above). The rest of my day was spent working on animation stills and thinking about the “City of Gears” cartoon show pitch.
Here's an index/blurbs of the 13 stories:

1) SEEDS A commercial traveler searches the world over for new and marketable anomalies. His investigation eventually leads to a tribal village hidden deep within the jungles of Africa. Here he learns of secret vegetations capable of unimaginable feats. The discovery may prove enormously profitable, but can these surreal vines be safely transplanted back in the City of Gears?


2) THE ELEVATED CITY A sociological imperative to exist beyond earths’s capabilities has driven the soil barren and left the air void and toxically malodorous. In our infinite brilliance, man has moved upwards, away from his mess, developing a new architecture sprawling heaven bound. Levels upon levels of strange apartment communities annihilate the skyline as the sun fades into myth and nature is a forgotten word.

3) A TALE OF TWO TREES As the all encompassing MAKINGLIFEPERFECT Corp. reaches new scientific heights, useless and manipulatively destructive lifestyles rein supreme. However the industrial success has attracted unexpected enemies. Hear the cries of nature for two trees have assimilated a mechanical foliage battle armor in order to survive these terrifying technological times!

4) A SHOPPING SPREE NIGHTMARE A Surreal shopping spree incites strange nightmare visions of an amorphous globular macroverse. Enthusiatically overwhelmed, an unsuspecting shopper engaged in a world of unobtainable satisfactions becomes psychically imprisoned in a sanatorium padded with buyer's remorse!

5) BRIDE OF THE WORKHORSE An unusually surreal comics adventure involving a genetically modified centaur romancing a artificially ameliorated runway model. Can the fated love affair consummate or will mechanical deviations consume the once illuminated passion? Another strange and unrealistic interpretation of the way things actually are.

6) SHADOWS A young artist experimenting with shadow and light accidentally unleashes insidious creatures of the night. Are these nightmarish forms a merely imaginary brushstrokes or has the painter depicted something far worse?


7) THE AMORPHOUS GLOB MACROVERSE An apparently insignificant opaque puddle spilt in the night malignantly mutates proceeding to commit horrific telepathic invasions. The irregular and intrusive messages sent from the glob, reveal the most damnable and unforgettable of all unwanted insights, agonies and revealing reflections.

8) FASHION SHOW NIGHTMARE A Fashion shoot turns monster as the latest trends reveal mutilated depravity, terrifying trims, and people turned inside out. A step by step must read for all young upstarts entering the fashion business!


9) DIARIES OF A DEAD MAN An excerpt from an anonymous diarist regarding an extraordinary and hallucinogenic experience as a devout atheist witnesses firsthand the power of the almighty. A frightening account of religious awakening and the prowess of true faith.

10) NOTHING MATTERS An aging litterateur reaches an inexplicable enlightenment through a life time of meditative studies. Having finally read all there is to read and written his dissertations, the man becomes ill and for the first time, realizes how lonely it actually is inside the old and extravagant library.

11) THE BRAIN WORM THING Following an exclusive invitation a skeptical consumer attend the unveiling of an intriguing new digital breakthrough. The MAKING TECH PERFECT company is introducing the worlds smallest, most advanced and intelligent, virtual serfing technology. But will this new device impress our disgruntled protagonist or simply turn out to be another scam.

12) ANDROID MAN In the span of a few short weeks a successful landscape painter finds his business and his life going digital. With the aid of modern computers the artist rises to fame and fortune discovering, piece by piece, that he no longer needs his paints or even the landscapes he once rendered.

13) AFTER THE HARVEST Surreal Aliens invade earth only to question whether or not our planet is fit for assimilation! What will these beings make of mankind and what are their diabolical plans for earth’s future? Beware, these extraterrestrial vegetations having been plotting for millennia from way-outer space to the skyscraper skylines of our monstrous metropolis!

Just made this as a personal checklist but it's kind of interesting so why not share. I didn't actually "finish" all these but I do have at least solid 1st drafts and artwork  for every one. A few of them have been polished but I am happy that I got 13 of them done, I've had so many more important ( less amusing/ more lucrative) things to do over the past 10 months. Lot's of editing and more than likely a few new fables before I try to put the whole thing together proper like. See more work Heyapathy!

Pen and Ink Illustration "Holiday Crowds"

HEY APATHY! Pen and Ink Drawings of People

Stomping feet dressed in red and black casually filled the downtown core on this fine Boxing Day 2010. The bright sun and absent winds helped to combat the brisk winter temperatures and the city came sort of alive with tones of bargain hunting suburbanites. I am not really a shopper, and tend to avoid crowds unless I’m performing, so I had no reason to partake in the bizarre commercial energies flowing through out the city. However the seasonably beautiful weather compelled me to take a stroll and since I’d no personal involvement, I thought it might be interesting to observe the crowds. It’s a lot less stressful when you aren’t worried about you dream product being out of stock or wondering if you have spent enough money in order to save on the deals.

The majority of the city was as quiet as any cold winter Sunday. Kensington was almost closed and Chinatown was barren. Nevertheless when I got down to the main strip there were people in every direction, even some line-ups in front of stores. The crowds consisted mostly of young people all giggling and struggled with hands full of purchases. There was some family activity but mostly teen shopping. Luckily it was cold enough to slow things compared to years gone by, but nice enough to pack the streets to a comfortable capacity.There was a free and friendly stream of pedestrian traffic. Oddly enough I saw  a great deal of festive red colors popping out from all the drab black and dark browns Toronto is accustomed to. It was a joyful and courteous mob, and I was very pleased to see so many happy humans. The sun in our faces and not in front of computer screens, in fact I don’t even recall seeing any cell phones, the peoples were shopping in groups.

The majority of the city was as quiet as any cold winter Sunday. Kensington was almost closed and Chinatown was barren. Nevertheless when I got down to the main strip there were people in every direction, even some line-ups in front of stores. The crowds consisted mostly of young people all giggling and struggled with hands full of purchases. There was some family activity but mostly teen shopping. Luckily it was cold enough to slow things compared to years gone by, but nice enough to pack the streets to a comfortable capacity.There was a free and friendly stream of pedestrian traffic. Oddly enough I saw a great deal of festive red colors popping out from all the drab black and dark browns Toronto is accustomed to. It was a joyful and courteous mob, and I was very pleased to see so many happy humans. The sun in our faces and not in front of computer screens, in fact I don’t even recall seeing any cell phones, the jolly peoples were shopping in groups.

It made me temporarily hopeful to see such kind human spirits. It’s a shame it is only a euphoric reaction to their gluttonous expenditures and pre-programmed inclinations towards fulfilling manufactured desires through the perpetual purchasing of useless, damaging and utterly ridiculous things. The quick sketch above was inspired by my anthropological wanderings and born out of guilt because I didn’t actually do any real work today. Read the Webcomics!

Free Weekly Comics Online! Page 11

Alternative Comics Online

Two unusual character’s dressed in surgical garments have been sneaking around replacing denizens with laboratory-made duplicates. In this segment, “The Banker” the strange assistants face their fiercest foe to date. Follow the surreal art misadventures every week as both the  audience and the author try to figure out what the hell is going on. READ THE WEBCOMIC!

I drew some of this pen and ink comic page on the train while travelling to my parents for the holidays. Not the most ideal place for a perspective interior rendering, or really any kind of drawing at all, so the page ended up kind of muddled. I really wanted to pay more attention to the line work, hoping to improve on last week’s image but kind of ruined my chances with the rush job on the bumpy track. I doubt anyone would even notice if I didn't mention it, but the dark planter on the right hade side, second panel, used to have all sorts of little details until I smudged the whole thing suddenly at a railway stop. Oh well there is always next week! HEY APATHY!

The City of Gears Kids Comics Online

HEY APATHY! Comics Online!

Maybe today was one for dreaming, but something about the holiday season, and in particular my 2year old nephew, has got me thinking a little more about comics for kids. As a public performer I have been interested in communicating to both the intellectual and younger viewers. Prior to my street and festival interventions, the artwork had a tendency towards a bleakness and horror much more nihilistic than the playful monstrosities I draw today. The last time I made something that was really geared towards younger audiences would have to be HEY APATHY! Book Two. While Book One, using superhero type imagery to tell a silent and symbolic parable, is vary borderline and can likely be appreciated by all audiences, Book Two was modeled after kid’s comics and cartoons. This sort of story telling might alienate “artsy” audiences (one artbook publisher laughed at me for making kid’s books) but they are not nearly as interesting or exciting as kids are anyways.

A little time before making the Samurai Comic (Book 2), I scripted and sketched out a children’s book entitled “The Sound of the City” based on one of my ink drawings of the same name. Although I haven’t gotten around to working on it yet, the script keeps making its way to the top of my pile of things to do and is really tempting. I think this book will happen soon.

Yesterday I did some drawings for my nephew. He likes to tell me what the pictures are,” Fish! Truck! Mommy!” and so on. It is really fun. These scribbles got me thinking and I decided to give a quick whirl at designing a “HEY APATHY!” kids cartoon. I did the sketch (above) in about a half an hour during which time I pretty much sorted out all the details. To make a long story short, these superheroes are basically vigilante law enforcement in the over-industrialized imaginary City of Gears. The city is on the brink of annihilation, though the denizens don’t realize it and the team has to fight various evils villains trying to destroy the metropolis. Sounds dull I know, but I was inclined to approach this as though it were a real show. This means within a set of rules and formulae. The fun will be in the symbolic narratives which I are festering in my sick mind.

The team consists of two kids, an artist and a book-worm computer whiz, a superhero, the old wise one, a female adult with musical magic, Audu & Jungle Cat (from Book Two). They have a giant robot which, once a diabolical business drone, has been reprogrammed for the better of mankind. The Robot is a key representation of the necessity to use, and not combat, technology despite all the inappropriate programming. The MachineHead corporate villain is continually trying to over-do consumption frequently threatening the well being of the city. Lastly the heroes know that they can not disturb the flow of the city for fear of chaos and must work entirely in secret. Blah Blah. Anyways I’m having fun with this today. I think I’ll flesh it out with some more drawings the next time I have free time. I think it would be cool ( and likely wise) to have a whole television series worked out. You never know when  opportunity might arrive and more importantly this is  just something I always wanted to do. READ WEBCOMICS!

Comic Drawings for Kids

HEY APATHY! COMICS ONLINE

Another busy day at the animation stand. Strange week this is leading up to the holidays. I’ve had a bit of human things to do, such as brunch with the family, some gift making and a small amount of shopping. The drawings posted here are for my 2 year old nephew Darroch.  He get’s a kick out of identifying the things in the pictures. These will get cut out and scattered throughout his gifts. Nevertheless I maintained a solid work schedule and should get a lot more done before I start touring dinner parties for the festive season. So far I made 110 animation stills as well as  a bit of drawing done with the goal of making it to 150 and finishing the weekly webcomic before Christmas. Otherwise the primordial vascular and clawed limbs protruding from beneath my bed at night have not been able to find me when I am under the covers and I think the cat has figured out a way to get rid of them. Life is good. VISIT HEY APATHY.COM

Metropolis Animation Drawings

ALTERNATIVE COMICS Animations

The City is a giant gear spiraling infinitely around and around. At least that’s how it feels today. I’ve been working on an animation sequence involving the symbolic city of gears. This was probably one of the first uninterrupted studio sessions I’ve had in a while. There always seems to be something else to take care of. I took full advantage of the open schedule and have been producing frames rapidly pace since noon. After this short interlude for eating and typing, I’ll put in a few more hours before calling it quits. If I’m lucky I might get 10 frames done. (That equals less than 1 second of film) Each frame is almost exactly like the previous. The image depicts the metropolis rolling around in a gear like formation. The process involves two basic steps, a brief under drawing and a final rendering. This means that after I drawing the whole thing once, I actually have to go back a re-draw it all again. The short loop is going to take at least 200 frames to complete but I am just stubborn enough to enjoy the doing this kind of work.

In fact I more than enjoy the work and have become a bit obsessive about the films. It takes so long to draw a single idea that the ordeal is simultaneously meditative and exhilarating. The animation itself requires immense attention, single ideas remain prominent (almost static) for extended periods of time, yet I can barely think about anything else. I’ve come to this sort of slowed down thought process based around movements equaling 1/22 of a second while attempting to physically transcribe these movements as quickly as possible. Meanwhile my conscious attention remains focused on the gear, each building and how they are going to move in the next few 1/22ths of a second and where they need to be 2 or 8 seconds from now. Occasionally I flash to future scenes or other stories, though through necessity, I rein in those wandering thoughts and drive them  swiftly back to the gear. Sounds all fragmented and crazy, it feels like that a bit too, however when the damned thing starts breathing… well that’s something I can hardly wait to see.

FREE WEEKLY WEBCOMICS



TO BATTLE A BANKER! Weekly Alternative Webcomics

WEEKLY WEBCOMICS! Strange Adventures in Investing...

HEY APATHY! Free Comics Online! This week the odd assistants attempt to kidnap and replace their must insidious foe yet, the banker! Weird superheroes, unusual citizens, diabolical villains and nightmares personified, welcome to the city of gears! Follow this surreal art comic exploration of the mind and the metropolis as reality weaves in and out of television broadcasts and little difference can be seen between night and day. New pages every week.

Surreal Comics is my fourth, and absolutely most absurd, graphic novel in the HEY Apathy1 mythology. The story follows a mad scientist and his lackeys as they mysteriously replace a number of denizens of varied societal positions with Frankenstein-like duplicates with intentions unknown. At the same time an unidentified superhero protects the city from giant robot terrorist attacks. Using an unusual combination of single page, short comics and extended narrations, the goal of the comic is to reveal the weird fable in the most disorienting, albeit entirely legible, manner possible. How else could I legitimately entitled the story SURREAL COMICS? READ COMIC FROM THE BEGINNING

Toronto Art

HEY APATHY! INK DRAWINGS

HEY APATHY! Toronto Artist Gallery Drawings. These are some shots of large HEY APATHY! Ink drawings collected at the Cambridge Galleries. The Show featured a wide range of thematic explorations regarding the metropolis, chaos, people and the apocalypse. Most of the works were created with a hand made bamboo drawing instrument and black India ink. The drawings range in size from 2 x 3 feet to 10  x 16 feet. This exhibition also included an animated installation presented on a television screen embedded in the wall.  This exhibition was curated by Sascha Hastings in 2006 and remains one of my most elegant presentations to date. FULL EXHIBITION HISTORY HERE

Thirteen Stories, forbidden tales of the apocalypse

HEY APATHY! Independent Comics and Art

A plant has attacked a corporate office, a mad scientist and his twin assistants have set about replacing people of varied societal positions, a centaur is still chasing the supermodel, amorphous nightmares runs rampant through the streets and the city of gears spins on! The past year has been, well different, but it always is. One of the most significant of these “differences” has been my dedicated, though feeble, attempts at writing stories. As a street artist, 2004-2008, I had little use for the written word managing all my interactions verbally and with an experienced eye for unspoken communications. The streets are all about the eyes and body language which I would then perceive and create a verbal approach accordingly. Around the fall of 2009 I started building a website and all of a sudden there were none of these options forcing me to use the only means available for online communication, words.

I made a number of failed attempts at essays and descriptions for my site but found the work overwhelming, scattered and ultimately poor. I put that project on hold and started with something smaller, little blog blurbs, but on a daily basis. I made sure to do about 200 words everyday and started working with little structures. I’d do 100 words on the story in the art, and 100 on the story behind the processes. Soon the word count doubled, and while still not satisfied with the finished paragraphs, the ordeal slowly became easier and was soon a regular in my daily routines.

Prior to this it must have been 10 years and the only writing I’d done was papers for an art school. Nevertheless what choice did I have? On Tuesday April 12, I ran out of things to say and started making things up. At this time I’d never actually written, or properly considered writing, a stories with words. When I “write” graphic novels I do so directly with the ink on paper. They are basically composed like silent films and the dialogue/text are the last thing on my mind. Animations are made the same way, I just make it up as I go along. Telling the stories on the streets is again, entirely contradictory to the written version. For example I can change my choice of words on the spot depending on the demographic of the viewer. You can’t do that online or in printed text.

The process of making things up proved immediately gratifying. Although I have been putting a some efforts into producing drawings this year, my primary focus has been on developing new animations. These things take for ever and you don’t really get to think about the narrative developments because so much attention I required for every 2/22 seconds of the film. Basically in the same time it takes to illustrated a single panel artwork telling a world of stories, the animation might only get the characters from one scene to the next (if I draw fast). Knowing full well that I can’t make animations and comics at the same time, the written stories really fulfilled a need to produce ideas rapidly while engrossed in such a technical process.

So I decided to write 13 stories with illustrations to use on my site. I think there are 7 posted and few more hanging around the blog. I maybe only edited 2 of them properly but I won’t start inserting scolding coat hangers in the veins beneath my toenails if that doesn’t happen before the new year. If I can get all thirteen ideas into pages, I’ll be satisfied for now. I’d love to see the work published in a little black hardcover entitled “Thirteen Stories, forbidden tales of the apocalypse” or something like that.

WEEKLY WEBCOMICS

Android Man -Comics Online

HEY APATHY! COMICS ONLINE

This may sound odd to many people, especially to younger audiences, not that I’m old or anything it just happens. Suddenly most of your hair is gone and what is left is grey, you get tired and can’t move so well on rainy days. Without warning all the new music and movies seem stupid but it doesn’t matter because you can’t remember them anyways. You also begin noticing that supernal luster of life and vitality in the skin of the young though you’ve no memory of such a glow in your own youth. But here I go jabbering like the old fool I’d sworn never to be! What I meant to say is most of you might find this strange, being accustomed to such things, but I have finally become an android.




For the better part of my long life I have earned an honest living as landscape painter. As you can imagine most of my time was spent outdoors. I passed hours messing with thick paints on some of the world’s most striking hillsides. Many of these subjects were quite isolated but frequent trips to towns and cities kept me satisfied for both supplies and socialization. One of my favorite excursions was to the artist’s district where I used to have professional slide photography taken while I mingled with the creative denizens of the west side lofts.



After the travel friendly season of sketching and experimentation was completed I’d return to the metropolis to hold up in studio for the winter. In the middle of the city it was easy to get around regardless of weather and the frequent trips about kept me in touch with reality until the bright spring time sun returned. This lifestyle suited me for a long time and the probabilities of anything else seemed nil.



Again, sounds silly doesn’t it? I mean we all know there aren’t any landscapes anymore. Nevertheless after the forests were all gone business actually improved rather drastically. People longed for nature scenes and even though I couldn’t actually visit them anymore, I didn’t really have the time anyways. The paintings sold for what ever I asked and as often as I felt inspired. Soon the business was at such a pace that I started having my supplies and groceries delivered. With seldom a break nearly six months had past and I never set foot outside my building.



After the extended period I completed enough of the work for an exhibition. I got very excited about the event because it meant going down to the old artist district for some slides and a few pints. However when I called in for an appointment I was told the lofts had all closed. My art dealer told me it didn’t matter and sent me a small camera to do the shots myself. He said he’d come around to gather him but on the date he was expected I received a package from him instead. Inside was a computer and instructions on how to email him the photos. So I did and that was that.



Some time passed and I continued working alone and indoors when one day I received a phone call. It was an automated message from my dealer requesting that I mail him a signed copy of certain form I’d find in my email. I then realized that I didn’t have a printer and finally had an excuse to leave the house. I got dressed and strolled down to the nearest internet café. I thought about how this would be a nice part of my routine. I’ll go for a walk and a coffee any time that I need something printed. When I got to the café it was closing, they said business wasn’t any good. The movers handed me a free printer and continued to clean out the shop.



Some more time passed before I received further news from my agent. This time he’d struck a deal to mass produce prints of the art. I was instructed to do away with my painterly materials and given a state of the art drawing tablet in their place. All of the work is now done directly in the machine.



Still business is booming and all I ever have to do is paint. There was a time when this would have been a dream come true but the repetition and isolation is growing wearisome. I thought that maybe I’d go seem a movie or peruse the local book shop. I might entertainment shipped me another device. This time it was a smaller computer designed exclusively for reading books. While I examined the thin and foreign object, he set up a “stream” on my desktop (from his remote location) which endlessly plays movies. Now I never have to go out.



It is absolutely incredible all these machine around my chair. I can access anything I want or need to within a 3 foot squared space. All my business, all my pleasures, all my necessities, available in this tiny room. I know it all seem so normal to most, but to me it has been sudden and strange. One minute I was standing in nature’s open valley and the next in an electronic world. I realize I am now an android; a prisoner … at least the landscape business has never been so damn profitable.

MORE PEN AND INK ILLUSTRATIONS

Toronto Artist

HEY APATHY! Toronto Artist

Getting ready for a long winter in the studio.

What a beautiful winter’s day for a stroll. The winds are blowing a white dust around. The ground is slippery and slushy but repeatedly painted white, as was I after ten minutes with a coffee on the corner bench. The computer says it is – 8 with 44 mph winds but it doesn’t really matter I made my way obtrusively through all my chores. These obstructions slowing my route had nothing whatsoever to do with the weather but merely mistakes and poor planning on the part of myself. I made way to the pet store to get crickets for my lizard forgetting of course that they are closed every Tuesday. Half way to the art store I remembered using up my supplies but realized at that moment I’d not brought enough money. I made my way home through the snow and back to for the supplies, another quick coffee and I was settled in the studio by three. I actually enjoyed the mild weather making the travels rather pleasant. I hate being cooped up no matter how productive it can be. At any rate yesterday my face froze in minutes and I couldn’t travel without a protective hood.

The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning and organizing all my upcoming projects. Throughout the pleasant seasons I tend to carry very few supplies and travel around creating work. It is really keep track of my materials this way but obviously affects the kind of work I can produce. Now, as the freezing imprisonment approaches, I find myself working on multiple tasks and all the equipment gets scattered. Today was my third three hour session in three days of tidying and I’ve finally got all this stuff together. When you need a ruler or eraser, it is really convenient to know where it is.

The next few months are going to be divided between three primary tasks. The first is more animation. For this I use two pens, two brushes, a light table, one stack of 8.5 x 11” blank paper and another with finished drawings. Because of the magnitude of this project I have (now) a small area dedicated to this production. It is always set up so anytime I feel inclined I need only pick of the pen. The second endeavor is the ongoing weekly webcomic. For these drawings I use the same two pens and brushes but work on larger illustration board. I only do this once a week so I’ve got the boards and long rulers stored in a easily accessible and visible place. The third, and somewhat terrifying, winter project is working on the website. I cleaned out my computer and have all the hard copies, photographs and drawings ready by the scanner. Found piles of unlabelled cd/dvds to go through also. (The picture above is from one of the mystery discs) I’ve got a lot of rebuilding to do. A large portion of my site was built before I even knew what miniscule bits I now understand about the computer. Anyways it should look a bit better than it does now.

That’s enough about my boring life. Probably a little hyper from all the coffees today but I think this little ramble helped me sort out my own mind. Hopefully tomorrow will be consumed less by trivial duties and more with the new animations. In the meantime check out the HEYAPATHY! comics online.

Strange Stories - The Deceptive Window

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics & Art

My miniscule and angular apartment boasts no luxurious features and has only one small window overlooking the outside world. The window is exactly 2 feet 8 inches wide by 3 feet and 6 inches tall except for when it is not. Sometimes the window is much smaller though it has never been any larger than it appears. The varying size of the portal is however manageable and of little concern. The truly disconcerting qualities, the sensations of uneasiness and disorientation, are coming from the things I see on the other side.

The view is a clear and basic one, facing an empty skyline with few buildings or really anything at all. Oddly enough I am located in the heart of the big city, surrounded by corporate skyscrapers, condominiums, clubs, restaurants and malls, yet the placement and dimensions of the window have left me staring at an empty sky. There is however the top of a maple and a grouping of electric wires. At night the moon sits in the corner but the sun herself never passes me by. As such the scenery offers little more in it’s usefulness than a representation of seasons and possibly the weather.

The particular alignment of the buildings facade in conjunction with the sloped major road ways and metropolitan tower labyrinths has obscured not only my vision by the ability to listen too. With one of the few open passages amidst the entire urban landscape, the window sits directly in the center of a strange wind tunnel. The gusts travel to and from all ends of the city carrying unusual signals in uncertain waves. The sounds, combined with the rumbling from traffic below, sing through the apartment but bear no semblance to sense. It may sound like a massive parade going on but when I’d inspected, the street were all bare. Sometimes crystal clear conversations take place in this room and on other occasions I could’ve sworn my neighbors were partying excessively. Of course in each of these cases, the noisy culprits were only riding the winds.

Like the sonics it carries, the winds also move deceptively around. Often dancing with the tree just outside as well as stomping throughout my room. The patterns are so erratic that once with a swoosh I’d been blown off my chair. In another instant I battled with a pounding rainfall only to find a mere drizzle occurring outdoors. The opposite is also quite ordinary and days that appear still and beautiful turn out to be frozen by storms. Occasionally the window properly predicted the true conditions, but only often enough to keep me confused.

Even at this very moment things appear quite and the sun is shining. There is little noise and no winds blowing, even the tips of the tree are standing still. No, I won’t be fooled this time, I can see that misty stream of smoke. It is almost invisibly faded, yet most certainly there. That opaque smoke is from a furnace, and the speed with which it vanished must mean angry northern currents. I’ll stay here where it’s warm and cozy, but what if I’m wrong? What if it is s beautiful day? Maybe the streets are paved with music or spring blossoms and I am in here, trapped indoors? You never really can tell from this window. At least there is one thing certain in all this trickery and that is that the window always wins. No matter how I examine or analyze the situation, it incites in me an inspiration to get up, dressed, and outside to gaze firsthand into a world in which one never knows.

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Eyes in the Sky - Diaries of a Dead Man

HEY APATHY! Pen & InkDrawings

Though my limbs continue to sway, it is only the conglomeration of larvae and vermin scurrying beneath my flesh which keep this body in motion. Once a young and hope filled enthusiast, I threw myself into a world of optimistic activism. In this world every action, thought and deed was designed to satisfy an overwhelming concern and impulsive revolt which had permeated throughout my logic. I couldn’t understand existence but could see how a few simple changes, like a strategic twist of a rubix’s cube, would bring the whole thing together. So I fought the good fight in every respect. From the simplest of gestures to the most elaborate of affairs every move I ever made was a plea for change and an educated attempt to incite such occurrences.


For years my struggles went unimpeded. Each new season brought new success and the movement I’d become a part of grew stronger. Although at this point I see little reason in preaching of the various methods and means through which we’d achieved such successes, I will mention that the numerous enterprises involved had assimilated many of the techniques invented by our consumerist opponents. We had discovered a means of production and promotion equally as profitable yet completely void of all the manipulative and damaging aspects associated with commercial ventures. Absolutely no hazardous materials, inhumane labor conditions or corrosive advertising were ever implemented yet still our products flourished. As a result the project began to attract attention from a multitude of investor’s, producers, agents, Hollywood stars, writers and critics. A mainstream breakthrough was undoubtedly on our horizon. However time and again, the outside interests proved detrimental, forcing us to abandon seemingly endless avenues of opportunity to avoid the risk of turning into the very thing we despised.


All of this, of course, was to be expected and frustrated us little. We’d been fortunate enough to find smaller opportunities in abundance and were never truly tempted by manufactured success. Do not misunderstand this, for our mission depends on mass communication and every possibility was examined to the fullest. However at the first hint of corruption all negotiations ceased. It was through this process that we were able to discover many people in favorable positions who were not only willing to assist, but truly believed in the cause. So it stood that, around the winter of my fifth year in the organization, things were going according to both or plans and ambitions.


It was a late November evening that I decided to go for a stroll. I had completed a lucrative summer schedule and was nearly prepared for the upcoming winter event. This “event” through not necessarily crucial, was definitely a pinnacle accomplishment in the progression of my work. I was confident and pleased, knowing full well the potential advancements that this particular project might incite. It was by far the most intricate and intelligibly developed of all our attempts. I felt a plausibly invincible and had little fear of any complications. As I wandered the streets filled with decorative lights and shopping hordes, a sudden tingling inspiration struck me not unlike a mild euphoric shock. .All of the hairs on my neck stood up in attention as I stood on the walkway in unexplicable awe and excitement.




Now before I continue it is important to understand a little more about my personal beliefs. I am not a spiritual or religious person in any right. I do not believe in the supernatural, fate, unicorns, honest politicians, Santa Claus or pop music. In fact it has been a particular devotion to logic and reason which has propelled this mission to unfathomable heights. Yes, the things I have been striving for are not unlike those taught with such emptiness by people who claim to be godly (or in the service of deities by any other name). However those of us involved are motivated only by the world we live in, the quality of life and our children, not by any other worldly rewards or punishments.



So there I was a devout atheist, anti-spiritualist, ultimate-realist with little imagination for intangible apparitions, standing in the middle of a glistening windy metropolitan street. Struck by this inspiration, I looked up to the sky and impulsively posed a question unlike any I’d ever considered before. My thoughts ran as thus “If there is something out there watching over us, whatever you are, I wanted to say that this place is a real mess. I’ve done my best to fix things down here and well if you give me a voice I will use it to help.”




I didn’t have time to analyze the absurdity of my thoughts before the sky opened up strange above me. There, as if superimposed between the opaque clouds and glossy sky, appeared two giant red eyes. They were not those of a feline or serpent, but they were not human either. The eyes closed and faded instantly, almost as if I never saw them. Yet in that brief second the mocking glance had, like all eyes do everywhere, told me a story. The eyes were laughing and had said something like ‘boy have you got it wrong, this is not a world for those who’d help, this is the playground of evil. As long as you follow the subservient laws, you are destined to a life of suffering and torture.” I couldn’t hear, nor visualize the castrating cachinnation bellowed by the beast but believe me I felt it. Beyond embarrassment, beyond humiliation, beyond hope, it was like starring in the mirror only to realize that you don’t look anything like you did in any of your dreams or memories.




I tried to put the experience aside and thought very little of it at the time. Even to this day I believe the vision was nothing more than an idle thought which found it’s profanity in my excited exhaustion. Not even for a moment have I accepted the hallucination for anything more than that, yet something terrible has been growing inside me ever since that weird walk. At first it manifested quite slowly like some terribly acidic consumption easily mistakable as some physical ailment. However this repulsive hollowness thwarting my innards soon spread throughout my veins. The perpetually evolving sensation now inhibits my entire being.





A record snowstorm hit the city shortly after the aforementioned incident. This terrible storm hit hard annihilating our winter event. Not only did the snow shun our attendance and shut our doors, but an accident involving several of our transport trucks all but destroyed any hope quick recovery. The winter that followed was plagued by destitution and the mission failed to progress until late the next spring. By that time I was able to recoup to some extent, but had become restrictively ill after a long and poverty stricken winter.



To make matters worse another company moved in on our market, only they were not doing it right. Though they had plagiarized our public appearance and boasted our ideologies for promotional purposes, the competitors were still producing products in an unredeemable fashion. In essence they had staked a claim to all of our innovations but were in fact still selling cheap sweatshop plastics. Before long that company started exploiting the corporate and media relations we had been forced to reject. Within a matter of minutes they had risen to international acclaim using our titles and image whilst belittling all our ideals. Broken by fatigue and corrupted by a despairing stomach I began to lose initiative and shortly thereafter resigned from the revolt.





I’ve spent years now wandering and the world seems perpetually worse. All of the different old buildings are gone and the new ones appearing are organized. I can no longer stomach the sound of new music and even in starvation I can’t find anything of value to eat. Sometimes I muster enough energy to read, but here there is nothing that can rekindle my once passionate pursuits. No, despite all my efforts and foremost ideas, the wound inflicted upon me that November night was a fatal one. My life ended there and then. Still the maggots and rats push me about and around; feeding on meats and seasoned remorse, but do not let these movements fool you, I am merely a staggering carcass. These routines, my remains, all the ruins, are nothing except fitting, for this is truly the world of dead men.





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Hey Apathy! T-Shirts

Hey Apathy! T-Shirts for $20. Just a reminder that everyone should probably buy a surreal decapitation for their loved ones this holiday season.

Jenny Everywhere

Jenny Everywhere is a public domain super-herione, despite my satirical interpretation, I'd say one of the coolest characters ever.

Toronto Artist "A Paper-work Nightmare"

HEY APATHY! Comics Online

My Toronto artist studio floor is camouflaged with forms, essays, applications and endlessly bureaucratic pages of budgets and text. Hardly a drop of ink to be seen, the spots now entirely engulfed by the chaotic compilation of documents accompanied by randomly scattered brown envelopes and data discs. The theme to Gilliam’s Brazil echoes through the hallway as I dodge spelling errors, wrestle resumes and struggle to defeat the deadline horizon of this years granting season. The accumulation of two months worth of typing, reading, writing and rearranging words, numbers, pictures and accomplishments shuffles about slicing my ankles, stifling my every move. Duplicates, triplicates, multiple copies and only 1 copy of each form, sent to various addresses, all labeled with the artist’s name and the title of the proposed program of work or proposed grants program, each asking for the assistance in the development of a socially satirical body of animated atrocities. A little odd isn’t it? As one who spent most of his life perfecting a humanist art form derivative of folktales, street performances and the inspirational chaos conjured out of random experience, the penetration of paper work made me feel as a surreal Sisyphus might if only the boulder was a cabinet of forms which could never be completed. But alas I conquered the nightmare and that work is done.

As the opening description might suggest, the completion of said task was not an easy one. In order to get all this stuff done, and to the best of my abilities, I decided to make a meditation out of the event. I refrained from all drawing, recreational reading, and leisurely use of the internet. The only exceptions would include a late night cartoon or two after I’d exhausted my ability to produce proper essays and forms. I did get into one short discussion about the Justice League on facebook, but it was completely by accident as I actually went there for business purposes (I don’t usually chat on that forum).Abstaining from these small pleasures wasn’t too difficult because they all involve using the computer. After 8- 12 hours of working on the machine the last thing I felt like doing was traveling anywhere online. The most trying factor of the ordeal was suppressing the urge to be creative.

I stayed focused throughout the work but was perpetually taunted by my imagination. As soon as I’d step away or lie down the stories would start to flow, ….a tale of a dead man kept in motion by larvae and vermin feeding on genetically ingrained experiences, missed opportunities, broken dreams and embarrassed emotions… and things like that kept popping into my head. The next page of the comic, the animations, an idea, all crashing at my psyche attempting to overthrow the mathematical and essay driven obligations I’d imposed upon myself. It is certainly a strange battle, the artist, itself an anti-established deviation who throws paint on walls and lives free from all anxieties, forced to wade knee deep through imaginary paperwork in order to continue his mission of making a mess.

Despite the contradictory nature of the artist seeking finance from a world that he/she cannot help but criticize, the process is actually quite logical and certainly fare. Most of the applications require a brief, yet succinct, written account, some visual support material and summarized budget costs. It is amazing how many forms and copies you have to fill out in order to convey that simple information, but in the end if one knows what they want to do, and the work is of any cultural value, then one probably stands a good chance. At any rate finalizing all this organization of materials proved far more rewarding than repulsive and seems to have ended much swifter than it began. Well the letters are all sent and the remaining papers brushed to one side, so I think I’ll spend a day or two cleaning before doing whatever it is I’m going to next. HEY APATHY!

HEY APATHY! a brief article about comics, kids and the apocalypse ( my life's work)

HEY APATHY! SURREAL ART

“HEY APATHY!” is an ongoing artistic investigation into the city , people, nature, technology and the overall mechanics of being. In the initial ink drawings the metropolis is revealed as an ominous gear propelled by an endless sea of faceless denizens. In more recent artworks, the city remains a giant gear, only now it is all the different kinds of people, not anonymous cogs, who fuel the machine. In order to achieve such realisations I developed a particular artists process involving public interventions, gallery exhibitions, street performances and ultimately new media installations. Through this combination of fine artworks, interventions, merchandising, and multi-media technology, I have created an extended narrative analysis of life in the city in the hopes of inciting dialogue and initiating change. For my next project I intend to express the unique findings of my anthropological experiments through the creation of a multi-screen, hand drawn animation designed for installation at the Urban Space Gallery, (401 Richmond Street. Toronto Ont.) The importance of this artwork will be examined through a brief analysis of my overall artistic initiatives, the technical relevance, and cultural significance of the proposed artwork.

In pursuit of edification, “HEY APATHY!“ aims to develop artworks of social importance as a vehicle for instigating mass dialogue. When I started the project (2001) I used to represent the city as a lifeless entity corrupted by alienation, anonymity, and misdirected commercial ideologies.. At this time I was working out of the seclusion of a suburban basement studio and came to the conclusion that in order to best understand the phenomena in question it would be necessary to externalize my inquires. The plan being to immerse both the artworks and myself publicly in an attempt to answer the questions: “WHAT IS THE CITY?” , “WHO ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE?” and “WHERE DO I FIT IN?“. I have since executed this “Unconventional Interview” through numerous public exhibitions, street art performances, outdoor projections, and wall murals. These interventions have permitted me to meet and converse with thousands of people from all over the world, and of all walks of life. As a result the investigation has led to increasingly intricate discoveries about architecture and others, and ultimately more accessible artworks such as comics, merchandising and animations. Today the experiment is primarily concerned with the creation of drawings that are simultaneously intellectually provocative as well as accessible to younger audiences.

Throughout the entire project, a trend of increasingly accessible, public , and multi-media presentations has evolved. In order to communicate to on a broad scale my investigation consists of live performances, print publications, and new media projects with an emphasis on public interventions and exhibitions.

For the proposed media arts installation I intend to extend my combination of art and popular culture, by creating a unique and socially significant animated artwork. The hand-drawn animation will be presented as loop or “Living Painting” on a large format flat-screen , exclusively designed for exhibition at the Urban Space Public Gallery (see C2 for details). The technical process will differ drastically from the “Cell” or “After-Effects” industry standard. Using the research, craftsmanship, and methods of presentation associated with fine artworks, I will assimilate the popular technology necessary to discuss humanist topics of great concern by means of an abstract , yet accessible, animated language.

A fine balance of global issues and playful optimism is apparent in all of my artworks, an invaluable technique in the alchemy of connecting with both the public and the intellectual. In this constituently technological age, it has become second nature for the artist to adopt, infiltrate and subvert the mainstream. To an artist interested in mass communication, the probabilities of new media exploration facilitate necessity. The proposed animation will critique and subvert popular media, compare, contrast, and combine classical and commercial art forms, and most importantly, invite younger audiences into an alternative stream of communication. Potentially a pinnacle achievement in my aggressive attempt to reconfigure pop, art, technology, and self.

Alternative Comics Halloween Masks ...

Alternative Comics Online 

 WHEN THE MASKS COME OFF

It's almost time for all the witches,

wolves and creeps to show their faces.

With each rising and racing moon,

more and more people are revealed as ghastly ghouls,

Come the Sabbath, 

and all it's holy praises.

 Landing late in the week this year,

 the gathering has excuse to begin early,

so the streets are half transformed with fear

 and will be worse for the better in mourning.

 After a full and busy and proper life,

 suffocating behind masks,

we finally have a call to breath,

for the children have all crashed.

 Fallen from sweet toxins

they are all out like the light,

 so no one will be the wiser

when the masks come off tonight.

Also check out the latest WEEKLY WEBCOMICS! (which are not written in ryhme, sorry can't explain?) 

Alternative Comics UPCOMING EXHIBITION! Ink Drawings/prints at URBAN SPACE

HEY APATHY! COMICS ONLINE

12 x 8 Foot INK DRAWING

will be included in upcoming exhibition

Urban Space 401 Richmond Nov 1/2010

To quote one of the great(est?) philosopher’s of recent times, “ GREAT GOOGILY MOOGILY!” I just started to relax following a long season of exhibitions and was preparing for a solid month of grants writing when out of nowhere I’ve got another show. Since February 2010 I have done 8 exhibitions including outdoor festival performances, comic book conventions and a simultaneous street performance and video installation at two locations during Toronto’s Nuit Blanche festival. That schedule worked out to be almost one show every month, all of which were convention style, meaning I had to transport all of my work, set up a portable gallery and tend the booth for two- four days. The Buskerfest was particularly exerting as it lasted for four 16 hour days in a row. Now that the busy season has past I was looking forward to some reclusive studio time and was glad to have the street gear in storage for the winter. Though as it turns out, not for very long.

At this time of the year the aspiring artist is generally chained to his/her computer conjuring proposals and budgets for the upcoming grant deadlines. My first submission is due on the 9th of Nov. followed by a few more applications due at the beginning of Dec. There for I had set in my mind to focus exclusively on these essays and forms over the next few days. The time so far has been divided between a lot of brainstorming, (though I know exactly what I intend to develop artistically at this stage it is more important that I cater the phraseology of said project to best suit each of my requests for funding and the councils reviewing those requests) and some preparatory paper work. I’ve had to make no small amount of inquires in order to ensure I create a proper budget and resume. I am still trying to get some answers out of the Toronto Arts Council, which is basically the only thing holding back the process right now. Tomorrow I’ll start the writings, likely between 6-9 pages worth depending on how much the conceptual approach differs from grant to grant. For example an animation might be more appealing to one council as a narrative film for festivals while another would prefer that same project to be called a media installation and shown in a gallery. Nuclear or Nuculear is still nothing but trouble.

As my obviously fragmented and slatternly expressions in the above block of text might suggest, the grants writing process is rather consuming and requires both extensive amounts of time and concentration. So just as I’ve initiated the rewiring of daily mental faculties and physical tendencies from creative production and performance towards academic and bureaucratic nightmares, I get an invitation to do a show, this coming Monday. While this has thrown me for a bit of a loop and surprise, especially considering the inexplicably short notice, the experience has proven improbably timely despite might current workload. Although I have to dig back into my storage unit and prepare another instant exhibition, this one will be in a public gallery space and this sudden connection has actually assisted me in the granting process.

One of the pending bureaucratic nightmares involved in the grant submissions is the inclusion of an authorized note of exhibition. The Councils expect the artist to have a gallery or space booked for the completion of the proposed project ( which ironically can not exist yet according to most grant regulations). This letter of confirmation has always been a struggle for me because I am a completely independent force with no gallery or representative to vouch for me and almost all of my shows are juried/ booked in the early spring. This means that there is no way for me to know if I’ll be accepted or to obtain the necessary letters until late spring when the results of the applications are released. Amazingly enough my meeting today about the upcoming show also resulted in a booking for next fall and subsequently the important letter of confirmation that I so desperately required.

Not unlike the unusually circumstantial obtainment of an exhibition space at a time when such an acquisition was vital, so to was the oddity of how the situation came about. A few months back I left a giant shared office studio located at Richmond and Spadina, just beside 401 Richmond (a giant Art Complex here in Toronto) in order to focus my studies on animation. Since I’d no plans of producing any original artworks this year ( and quite possibly ever again) in favour of small computer based cartoons and comic strips, I had no use for the grand studio and retreated to a home set up using the money that would have paid for the rental space to upgrade my animators electronics. I had some concerns about the relinquishing the commercial space but it has been one of the best moves I ever made.


 Shortly after leaving the studio I received a call from Urban Space, a major gallery located in the 401 Richmond Street complex. The gallery asked me if I could do a live performance at the main entrance of 401during this past October’s Nuit Blanche festival. Due to logistical reasons  (I RALLY WANTED TO WORK QUEEN STREET) I offered them my animations to project on the exterior of the building instead and the installation turned into a great success. So almost instantly upon my exodus from the shared studio which overlooked the professional building, I had moved into a bigger institution. Mind you that move was primarily symbolic as it was really just my projections that were being featured for a single night, but that night looks better on my resume (and in person) than 5 years of dealing with passively aggressive Machiavellians posing as young artists and studio mates.

The Nuit Blanche projections ran simultaneous with a live painting performance I did independently under a tent gallery on Queen Street West. These two events marked the end of my exhibition season and resulted in the slight moment of relaxation I mentioned at the beginning of this entry. Coincidently my symbolic entry into the 401 Richmond Street Building lasted for about as long as my rest period as I received yet another invitation by the Urban Space gallery, only this time it was to book two exhibits inside the gallery and (GASP) get paid for it. Earlier this afternoon I went down to gallery to see the space and confirm the exhibitions. I’ll be hanging some work in a group show this weekend and will have the entire space to myself in the fall. Pretty cool.

I think I may wait until tomorrow to discuss the group show, it only has three artist including me, and is going to awesome as well as an honour. I will however give a little credit were it is due and close this off explaining how these absurdist developments came about so suddenly. I got an email yesterday from a long time patron/collector Max Allen and though I’d no idea where or what the show was going to be I know Max’s style and was certain the exhibit would be intelligent, provoking and important regardless of any commercial viabilities and my tight schedule these days. It turns out that Max, already the founder and curator of the Textile Museum of Canada, radio producer and long time art collector just became a managing curator for the Urban Space Gallery at 401 Richmond. As one of his first duties in the new position, Max procured a showing of art about cities, in particular a comparison of physical and financial provocations regarding New Orleans, Detroit and Toronto and just like that my symbolic entry into one of Toronto’s most respected Art’s building transformed from a symbolic one to fully developed physical working relationship.

In delusion, er conclusion, I touched on a number of small topics here that require further explanation but have pretty much covered the basic sequence of events which occurred between Oct 2- 26 which have resulted in my first gallery showing in over two years and more importantly I am rambling out many, many words these days just to flex my essay-writing muscles which are going to be put to the test during the next few weeks. more at http://www.heyapathy.com/