ALTERNATIVE COMICS still travelling the vortex

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics Travelling the Vortex

As I mentioned in my last post i discovered one of the strange and opportune portals which permits travel to distance cities, lands and experiences. Like any inquiring mind I obviously dove right in a set myself forth towards unknown adventure. The vortex was more pleasantly travelled than many I moved through before as the ride remained smooth and the scenery exquisite. It isn't really possible to make such judgements when riding the waves but I suppose I was making good time anyways. My travelling companions included my father and Julii though we left the task of navigation up to a small mechanical device. Julii read and slept whilst I soaked up the natural surroundings breathing deeply and deeply enjoying the endlessly passing green hills. We spun undisturbed and happily towards fates destination without a care nor concern when thing turned suddenly diabolic.

We passed a strange conglomeration of electronic devices and large arched obstructions impeded the portal. Oversized men-creatures decorated with military uniforms, bearing both proudly waved flags and unconcealed weapons stopped us dead in our tracks then proceeded with the harassments. They separated and searched us with intimidating fashion forcing me to surrender my finger prints to a machine. I don't believe they had the right to do so but in combination with my travellers wooziness, their threatening demeanour appeared of all authority. In the end they decided to send us back through the portal which was much preferred to the insinuated incarceration.

"Why all the trouble?" I was bold enough to ask and the answer was a simple accusation of smuggling. I had on my person 50 HEY APATHY! comic books which, unbeknown to myself we apparently illegal. I was told that this small fortune would not be permitted to cross the interdimensional gateway to the totalitarian country side awaiting at the other end. Yes the comics and the retail value of about $100 were in very serious violation to the laws of this land. Two and a half hours occupied by the activities of approximately four guardian soldiers relinquished our crime and these stresses potentially saving both country and globe. I felt much safer knowing no comic books would ever pass through the portal and decided to leave my collection behind and approach the border again. This time the search revealed no necessity for seizure nor imprisonment and we were once again hurled through the vortex travelling safely through space and strange time... (to be continued)

more surreal art things

ALTERNATIVE COMICS found one of those strange portals...

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics

An interesting and somewhat unusual turn of events led to my discovery of one of those unique portals which permit visitations to other cities and possibly other parts of the world. No sense in delaying the inevitable so in I go and off to somewhere. This little vacation has upset my normal routines so my post is on the short side tonight but fear not if you have been following the Street Art Chronology for I'll resume those recollections at the end of my sudden travels. I don't know where this portal is headed nor what lies in store at the other side but I expect, though without any real reason, that I'll be back in my studio by next Tuesday.

In the mean time please enjoy some of these stills from the new HEY APATHY! animation funded by the Ontario Arts Council. I've been working on the project for a few months now and despite the tediously slow and extensive work involved the cartoon is coming to life. The first set of stills depicts a Technological Last Supper, as a group of young business people are attacked by a giant ominous Robot. The second set of stills represents the unconscious monsters which float, transform and permeate though out the meditative spaces. The entire short film will reveal many unusual discoveries through a strange quest to identify the city. 13 intermingled vignettes each based on a chapter of the weird fine art investigation I've entitled HEY APATHY! . The Ontario Arts Council was looking for some visual progress reports to help promote all the projects they've funded so I put together some quick samples before I prepare to dive into the travelling vortex which has so conspicuously presented itself. More bizarre ramblings when(ever) I return....   

MONSTER COMICS animation stills

more at www.heyapathy-comics-art.com

ALTERNATIVE COMICS Street Art Chronology Stories from 2005 part 2

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics STREET ART Chronology

The street season of 2005 pushed my artworks and presentation techniques in all sorts of new and innovative directions. In the earlier part of the season I switched from using my hand carved bamboo pen to using a brush. At first this transition was primarily for filling in large black areas, but the swift fluidity of the brush soon replaced the pen for all of the work. This new instrument permitted me to make faster and larger drawings which were much more exciting for the audience to watch. I also started producing small framed artwork which were simultaneously more marketable and the perfect paper weights to prevent my drawings from blowing down the road. The artworks steadily grew in speed intricacy and size so that by the end of the summer I was using up about 20 x 12 feet worth of the city block.

The first day of live painting (described earlier in yesterday's post) included some bamboo pig heads, monsters and robots. The poster sized artworks each featured a single character and were made entirely with the clumsy bamboo pens. All of these drawings, although unique depictions, were based on previous designs I’d exhibited in the galleries. As the summer moved on I continued to explore similar imagery only using the brush. The drawings got a bit more simple but could be made incredibly fast. At first these images also mimicked and expanded on my older designs but before the mid point of the season new monstrosities started to appear. More and more human depictions were directly resultant of my interactions on the street.

HEY APATHY! 30 x 40 ink on paper street drawings

STREET ART 2005 4 x 6 foot Transformation Scrolls

As the imagery changed so to did the format. The 30 x 40 inch poster sized ink drawings grew into extended 2 x 4 foot animated narratives, the to 4 x 6 foot large format paintings. The sequential scrolls featured strange transformations of man into monster, animal and machine. The large images started to revisit the metropolis and the ominous gear from my first series only now the examination was drawn from the vantage of the street. The faceless cogs and anonymous creatures now presented themselves as a amazingly diverse crowd. Each individual depicted in the artwork, though still alienated, had a story of their own. In the final weekend before the summer closed I completed a 10 x 15 foot large mural of Toronto. The image featured a military attack on an armoured hero inspired by a short work by Kurt Vonnegut. The artwork took three days to complete created primarily with brushes but detailed extensively with my old bamboo pen.

10 x 15 foot "Death of a Hero" Toronto Mural.

 (Duct taped to street wall with my duffle bag in the left corner)

Like the size of the artworks the crowds too perpetually expanded. A larger number of onlookers were taking interest and I was moving a lot of art. The small tool kit was a thing of the past as my display now overflowed 2 large duffle bags with an additional large roll of paper. In fact I found my self making inopportune mission biking to the dollars store to restock on frames. At first I would spend the mornings making small brush drawings but soon the demand was keeping me up most of the night. It got to the point were I was making batches of fifty brush monster drawings more than 5 times a week. Of coarse where there is action the is usually trouble and it became evermore difficult to avoid the bi-law consequences Continued tomorrow ...

more street art at  www.heyapathy-comics-art.com/monster-comics-street-art.html

ALTERNATIVE COMICS Street Art Chronology Stories from 2005 part 1

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics

Here's some more accounts of my experiences as a street artist, the last few days I wrote about 2004 so here my initial recollections from the second season which took place in Toronto through out 2005.

My second season working as a street artist proved unbelievably progressive as my artistic vision, technical skills and public performances were developing at a rapid pace. Although the drawings began in a similarly monstrous fashion as those from 04, by the end of the 2005 summer I had intuitively and entirely reinvented “HEY APATHY!” as a result of the public processes. I started making quick live performance artworks and engaging the audience in more and more parabolic conversations. The weather was perfect, the city was busy and working the streets became a full time gig. The reactions were easily tenfold those of my previous venture and soon thereafter many other artists started to join my crusade. As a result of the booming business and incomparable inspiration the size of my display, the intricacies of the illustrations and my ability to interact with viewers all drastically evolved.

The winter of 2004- 05 was probably one of the worst times of my meagre existence. I had rented a 5 x 8 foot room in the basement of a boarding house for something like $150 a month. I remember breaking the ceiling lamp with the top of my head on several occasions simply by standing upright in the mornings. I had managed to pre-sell a large body of ink drawings and was basically living off a small allowance divined out by the patron on a bi-weekly basis. This business arrangement kept me productive though I can no longer stand the sight of canned chilly or instant rice. Needless to say that as the spring of 2005 sprung I was anxious and excited to return to the streets. I wished desperately to reinitiate my experiment where I could stretch, breath, and create freely while generating a more steady income.

As enthusiastic as I’d been I could never have imagined the results my second season would unfold. Instantaneously I discovered success both in productivity and reaction as I started working on larger scale ink drawings sprawled out on the street. I remember those first days absolutely unlike any others as the sidewalk was crowded from the curb to the stores. The sun was blaring a peculiarly beautiful yellow as I weighted down some poster sized papers with bricks from the street. Before I even really knew what was happening I had incited a crowd and was talking about and selling drawings. I made more in sales on the first weekend of 2005 than I the whole season of 2004 and more importantly I had initiated a dialogue with the city. Monsters, Robots, and Exploding buildings were flying hot of the concrete at about $40 a piece. Of coarse even such small successes always come with a price as the sidewalks were soon cramped by other artists and the city by-law enforcers took notice… continued tomorrow

            see more of the 2005 drawings www.heyapathy-comics-art.com/street-art-comics-2005.html

Alternative Comics Surreal Street Art Stories 2004 part 3

HEY APATHY Alternative Comics

 

Aside from some rough beginnings, this first season as an unofficial street artist proved very productive and educational. Though propelled to the experiment by a combination of strange influences, experiences and ideas evolved gradually over a four years period, the miniature revolt was entirely circumstantial. Had I not happened upon certain people simultaneous with a particular financial destitution I likely would never have taken my interview to the streets. The summer of 2004 exposed me to many incredible secrets as I studied the politics of street life while scribbling away. Among the many unspoken rules I paid close attention to vendor etiquette and seniority as well a the city’ official rules. I encountered the dreaded by-law officer on many occasion’s and learnt quickly learned how to slip through the cracks. I deliberated on pedestrian patterns, the cause and effects of the weather as well as the strange logistics of working outdoors. And most important of all I started talking to real people. I exchanged in conversations with various absolute strangers in an entirely unique forum free from the preconceptions and pretensions of the art festival or gallery. Over the following winter I began co-relating all this data and excitedly planned to resume my new means of expression as soon as the cold weather gave way to a new spring. 

tomorrow Street Art Chronology 2005 the second season...

The logistics of street art Julii saves the day!

visit http://www.heyapathy-comics-art.com/

ALTERNATIVE COMICS STREET ART PART 2

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics

Early street art displays continued from yesterday...

While being courted by several reputable collectors and galleries I repeatedly encountered two unusual trends. On one occasion a patron reneged on a large scale purchase after I refused to join him in his apartment for a private dinner. Similar motivations presented themselves in the galleries as I recall being pawed at and offered Champaign and narcotics during various early morning business meetings. The galleries that I was in talks with also had a tendency to request that I recreate drawings that sold well in the past only not as installations but in small marketable series. The combination of these bizarre social formalities and the creative restrictions led to my preferences of self representation and public exhibitions. However in hindsight I can see that these people were primarily attracted to the magazine attention and were not interested in the art. Since that time I have met and worked with many incredible gallery curators and who have supported me only the most honourable of intentions.

At the same time that I was exhibiting in the galleries, I was also experimenting with public venues. I displayed my artworks at the T.O.A.E. in both 2002-2003. The large scale outdoor festival presented an entirely different audience and approach from that of the art galleries. Thousands of people strolled through the exhibition. There were people from all over the world and of all walks of life. The show offered an incomparable opportunity to interact with many people, most of which had never even been to a gallery. I found this experience extremely inspiring and I met many amazing characters, from little children to Grand mothers. I don’t recall making any connections to the outdoor festivals and performing as a street artist at the time, but the outdoor festival interactions certainly prepared and inspired me to experiment in the streets.

It wasn’t until the spring of 2004 than the combination of a these past experiences and a new set of circumstances led me to display my art on the street. For the first time since 2001, I was unable to secure a winter exhibition space and was no longer eligible for the College’s scholarship competitions. I was hanging out in Kensington Market pondering what to do about my financial situation. I was out of house and work when I met some people who sold jewellery in the streets. Co-relating all my weird thoughts I instinctively asked if I could join them. I put a scrap of black cloth and a hand full of small drawings inside a little black box I could carry in my hand comfortably while riding a bicycle.

My first attempt was on Bloor street on an Thursday or Friday afternoon. My friends did very well selling pipes, and jewellery while I myself didn’t sell a single thing. I wasn’t to discouraged though and the street jeweller told me that the other spot was better. The following morning I went join the other vendors on Queen Street and the scene was entirely different. There were tonnes of people, other buskers and many vendors. The weather was perfect and there was lot’s of energized activity. I met a whole bunch of weirdoes and sold enough art to go back. I worked every weekend through out the summer of 2004 earning enough to get by, by drawing pictures in the sun. In these early experiments my display featured scribbled monster comics and creepy surreal roach humanoids accompanied by the occasional crawling pig’s head. continued tomorrow...



 more drawings, street art and murals at http://www.heyapathy-comics-art.com/

ALTERNATIVE COMICS A Street Art Chronology 5 years of Concrete

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics Street Art

Although most of my time these days is spent working on the Ontario Arts Council Animation I am still making a hobby out of   building  my website. Maybe a week ago now I posted some index pages regarding a chronological  account of my experiences and developments as a street artist. While I am still hitting the city on special occasions I am no longer working the sidewalks full-time and thought it would be a good idea to sum up that experiment which ran from 2004 until 2008. During those five seasons, including one entire winter, I exhibited and created my artworks live on Queen Street West,  downtown Toronto.  I met thousands of people and learned many weird things.  So in order to kill two creatures with one story,  my daily journals over the next few days will attempt to recollect, in an essay type format, all those unusual years I wasted working outdoors so I can breath life into my index pages  currently haunted by dead-links.  

STREET ART 2004 or HOW THE H--- Did I END UP HERE?

I first started experimenting with my monsters comics street art in the spring of 2004. At that time I had a small display of nihilistic ink scribbles depicting man as creepy creatures and images of war. During that first season I travelled around the city on a crazy little BMX with all of my equipment packed in a small tool kit. The experience was particular and extremely unusual as I started to mingle with the strange world of strangers i the streets. Although I’d still a long way to go, the presentations began inciting a unique exchange of discourse between myself and a diverse range of unsuspecting pedestrians. The inclusion of these then new public interventions was unconsciously inspired by a combination of artistic influences, personnel experiences with gallery dealers, a growing interest in the public forum and ultimately through a certain surreal and intuitive necessity.

 

As a younger student studying at the Ontario College of Art and Design I discovered the underground comic book works of Robert Crumb. I had been a long time fan of comics and as I grew out of adolescence had started leaning more towards alternative streams. In my second semester at the college I was scribbling out little horror stories using less and less preliminary drawings attempting to work directly with my refillable RAPIDOGRAPH pens. Sufficed to say as I delved deeper into academic studies my opinions towards the world were also growing bleaker by the article and work began taking on a more satirical edge. It was at this time, during an all night drawing session, that I happened across a bizarre documentary on TVO. Although telepathically familiar with the work as in is part of our collective uncommon knowledge, this was the first time I actually witnessed the world of R. Crumb. I felt as though I’d found a kindred spirit and was absolutely blown away by his psychedelic drawings and verse. I took particular interest in his ability to capture and document true to life occurrences primarily born of his experiences on the streets. Crumb had spent many years exhibiting his drawings as a street artist and this method struck me as a very important means of research. Although Crumbs public processes obviously affected and inspired me, it wasn’t until several years later that I found myself selling art on the streets. I did however stop working with preliminary sketches entirely after observing the masterful and instantaneous technique used by Mr. Crumb.

In openly citing Crumb as a major inspiration I do not mean to infer that I’d taken to any aspirations of following the footprints of most demented idol for in the years that followed I ended up on a very different oath. By January 2001 I had completely forsaken the practice of drawing comics in favour of developing large scale ink drawings intended for the gallery setting. For 3 years I worked exclusively with hand carved bamboo pens and black India ink, creating mural sized abstractions of metropolitan life. By the summer of 2003 I’d completed 2 major drawing installations both of which featured hundreds of artworks used to completely transform the gallery space These massive surreal landscapes gained me a lot of recognition from Torontonian collectors and dealers alike. I won several awards, was featured on the cover of NOW Magazine, and was making a decent living by my third year of art college. However as a result of this early success I encountered numerous strange obstacles and found myself perpetually exposed to distasteful events... to be continued tomorrow

 

 

Monster Comics Concrete Early 2005 ( I don't actually have any pictures from 2004 )

ALTERNATIVE COMICS Technological Talisman

HEY APATHY! Surreal Alternative Comics

Yet another unusually hot spring day in the city of Gears. The thick air and burning sun pumped us up around 30 degrees Celsius as the sluggish denizens filled the early morning streets. At first the metropolis was energized in every sense as people flaunted and strut in their scantily summer fashions fully ready to make use of the fine weather. However as the sun continued it's climb and the heat crept steadily upward, the excitement became filtered and numbed by the inevitable  stroke and dehydration. The parks filled with bitterness and irritation from any who tried to move.

By noon the temperature had risen and though I did not check it, that heat was more than abnormal and relentlessly rising. I heard bickering from the benches and witness no less than three fights as my neck started reddening forcing me into the shade. It was at about three in the afternoon that I found my self seeking shelter under a large tree from the sweltering rays. The heat kept on creeping and I found that I could barely replenish my perspiration by downing several litres of water.

At four o'clock the concrete stared to melt peeling back layers and revealing strange thoughts. The air started to waver as though it was water and those who were left standing were in the utmost of rage. Car horns could be heard , along with much yelling , from all perceptive directions of the urban landscape. Still getting hotter at five in the late afternoon, I found my self caught in a daze completely incapacitated while stuck to the tree. It was here in the mucky humid waving heat of the city that I nearly passed out, but it was not from the heat but from something I saw.

From across the blazing park a figure stood alone and idol, easily noticeable as the only person unaffected by the heat. As the blurry grudged air slowly subsided the being appear ever slightly more clear. At first the only peculiarity seemed to be the tall strides, as absolutely every one else was incapacitated by the humidity. Then I noticed the beings head like a bull only with four horns and three faces or possibly four. The movements of the creature became smoothly surreal as it moved closer and closer until I was most certain it's legs were in fact constructed mechanics resembling tentacles and tendrils intertwined yet mobile.

I squinted to view this atrocious absurdity and though it appeared to take no notice, it continually approached. Now the faces were moving and intermingled forming and reforming before my very eyes. Amazing the effects of a hot humid vision, an hallucination for sure brought about by the sun. The creature got closer and I could see that it's hips were made up from small screens projecting strange expressions and I almost laughed as I was compelled to smell my water for a spike.

At last the monster arrived only inches before me when under all the animalistic mechanizations I saw some thing more terrible. It was a man in a lab coat and large rubber gloves wearing the cape and cowl of a hero with his arm spread wide apart. His teeth were gritted and hissing and I could hear the sound of machinery from under his breath. His torso was opened with intestines of computers and the bull's heads seemed to be one with his own. The strange scientist reached forward with one of his gloved hands and made a gesture as though he was turning a switch. "That's a wrap" were the words muttered out from the machine noises and all at once the heat and desolate weather system seemed to recoil.

The vision, the scientist, the sounds and the humidity all vanished at once. The temperature did not drop instead immediately corrected and the dehydrated irritations of the city had ceased. Who knows maybe I just fell asleep in the sun but that certainly doesn't explain how I finished the drawing posted above this weird account of today's heat wave gone wrong. Any ways I got back to my studio, ate some food and worked on the O.A.C. animation trying to forget that we are quite very possibly all rats in a lab....

 
 

more drawings at http://www.heyapathy-comics-art.com/

ALTERNATIVE COMICS the thing under the stairs...

Alternative Comics Monster

Another schizophrenic Toronto afternoon as our early summer weather bounces rebounds after a couple of cold spring days. I certainly took advantage spending a couple hours in the park in between labour intensive sessions hovering over the animation stand. Got a lot done in terms of drawings although little in terms of seconds for the all new HEY APATHY! cartoon funded by the Ontario Council for the Arts. However despite my luxurious division between the outdoors and studio time the weirdest distraction had little to do with any of my attempts to be simultaneously productive and relaxed.

The problem arose later on in the evening as I attempted to compose a short essay for my site. I was writing up a history of the influences and occurrences regarding my decisions to work as a street artist when I heard a strange beeping and clicking coming from under the floor. I tried to ignore it and continue my typing but the consistent sound kept annoying so I was forced to investigate. I followed the noise out my door through the hall eventually identifying it as coming from the stairs. I slowly crawled down the steps with my ears open and discovered a small crack were the sound seemed to originate.

I'd never really considered the stairs as being hollow or even briefly thought that there was any space underneath. In fact if I think about it I was almost most certain that the steps were quite solid until this very minute clicking revealed otherwise. The crack was very small but easily identifiable so I put a knife into the hole and pried it open a bit.

There was a strong stench and a gurgle which over took the mechanical sounds and in a flash the ground gave way underneath my feet. I fell through the stairs and landed in a basement, only it wasn't the laundry room I thought it would be. The room was all damp and dripping and red and a large grotesque leech with the face of a demon bull was slithering to a fro all around the debris. It was hissing and gurgling and making the computer click sounds and I started to sweat in fear for my life. I saw bones sprawled out and bugs that had been chewed as the sluggish atrocity started towards me with it's face all a glow. I was about to shout out and prepared to defend myself, though compared to the size and horror of the beast I was absolutely no match. It's blue glowing face flickered as it gobbled the mucus falling from on of it's faces to another. The beeping and clicking got louder and louder and the creature advanced aggressively and close to my face.

Amazingly as it got within a consumable distance I realized that I was absolutely no concern. The monster slurped passed me starring at the bright screen in it's claw. I was in no danger for the creature was distracted by a small technological game playing device. It was obviously engaged in a simplistic arcade which was responsible for the beeping, as for the clicking I think it was texting a friend....

ALTERNATIVE COMICS Soul Devouring Leech Friends

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics

Like most people in the world, save for an elite group of likely the most intelligent of beings, I have accumulated many friends and acquaintances over the years. However the names and number of these people seem to be in perpetual shift. The problem occurs as one becomes entangled in patterns and the true nature of the "friends" rears it's soul-devouring leech head. Not to say that this is always the case, but it take all sorts of a----les to burn the world down. Why would I dwell on such a horrific topic? It all started with a simple telephone call.

The phone started beeping (remember when it rang?) and on the other line was one of these so called friends. Granted this person has not been entirely evil, in fact on several occasions he has proven quite supportive. Yet despite all of these favours or friendly encounters the hairs on my neck instantly took to alarm. Here we go again. Without hesitation nor forethought I knew what was coming for this particular friend only calls me to boast. It is the strange pattern which struck a strong chord in my mind and set me on edge as I answered the call. While the soul sucker leeched some new braggart delusion I drifted into my own world in a soliloquy of doubt. Why I tolerate such untimely intrusions? These sorts of people are not really friends. Sure I've known them for years but the patterns are simple, the only time they call me is when they've some amazing success. And the truth of the matter the stories are not meant to be shared nor incite joy in the occurrence but only to cut me down, compete and belittle  for absolutely no good reason or at least of no benefit to me. Now I expect this from my enemies and tenfold from other artists but from someone with my home phone number is absolutely absurd! Cut me down and belittle me in insecure attempts to prove something!

Anyways I've wasted enough energy on such ridiculous matters so I interjected on the boasting a told this person with out a second thought "Get out of my life and don't call me again!" Wow that felt good. No more insidious evil soul sucking troll leeches are going to latch themselves to me under the guise of a friend. They may be coy, may be sneaky, and often bare gifts but if you listen to you instincts  the leech can be made right away. It also seems easy to fall into routines but with a swift simple gesturte your world can change. So to churn the negative into an opportunity I am warning you to be wary of friends with black oozing hatred and creepy sly remarks who cause you nothing but aggrevation!

see some more pictures about how evil people can be

ALTERNATIVE COMICS lost in imagination (the experiment) oh yeah Samurai and Robots too

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics

Another sun has past and a few inches gained on my begrudging attempt to develop a new animation (funded by the Ontario arts council). The process itself is moving quite smoothly it is just that sometimes it feels as though it is taking to long (12 freaking drawings per second). So this afternoon I submitted and ran from the studio so as to go and doodle in the hot humid air. Only a comics artist or psychopath would take a break a break from drawing to draw, but I must still refute accusations of either title. In fact I am a really just a sort of surreal detective conducting an unusual experiment regarding the mechanics of life.

My investigative process involves a large amount of public immersion as I use street art and murals to conduct my anthropological studies. The basic idea is to put out as many strange images as possible to incite discussion and question the purpose of routines. Who are all these people and what is the city? The experimental research has taken me to many places. I've eaten at some of the most expensive dinner tables in the entire world and eaten lunch with drug addled homeless people down on the street. The entire production, now going on ten years, has revealed many things about architecture and others but the results as of late have become less and less clear.

The problem with the project occurs in the most peculiar of moments as I discover my public interventions tendencies to manipulate the findings. For example I first discovered hope and intelligent life while painting giant murals in the streets of Toronto. The contradiction occurs after I remove all the artwork as I have realized it was in fact the beacon which was drawing positive actions out from the crowd. Without the giant street display the city turns colder and the possibilities of discovering stimulating ideas grows thinner and thinner with each city block. Is the city a true wonder or was it my interactions which helped to spotlight the miniscule value which quickly ceases to exist out side of the art. Just try and stop a stranger and enter in to discourse about anything of interest and you know what I mean. With a large scale ink mural on the sidewalk the interactions are endless, but without the incentive the metropolis seems numb. There is shopping and drinking and fighting for space as well as headphones and cellular zombies amok.

The question of whether or not my participation in the carnival was effecting my studies has recently become increasingly skewed. On my break in the park I started talking to this Samurai. He told me an interesting story about an artist he once knew. While he shared his weird little narration, I started doodling a scene of my own. I imagined the Ronin was about to do battle with an oddly constructed Robot sneaking up from behind. The Samurai asked what it was that I was drawing, rolled his eyes. sighed and moved into preparation for battle. Sure enough the ground shook under the feet of that Robot as it ran up behind us targeting my new friend.

So you can see where I am having difficulty recording my research. I am not really sure whether or not I am the documenter or the creator of these things. Like a physicist who initiates or destroys a project merely by observation, it is extremely difficult to understand the results because they cannot be judged without looking. It's sort of like that old saying if a tree falls in the forest, does the condo developer make a sound? At any rate the Samurai jumped up and off of a tree at an inhuman pace and made quick work of the Robot before he disappeared. If you want to know what happens next you'll have to read about it in my report. The findings have been published in HEY APATHY! BOOK TWO.

Blurring the lines between reality and dementia! Scene from the HEY APATHY! comics series

 

ALTERNATIVE COMICS The IMPRISONMENT

HEY APATHY Alternative Comics

Well the last to days were nothing short of terrifyingly weird as a minor slip of the tongue ( or rather keyboard) cost me a brief incarceration and subsequent unimaginable torture. Fortunately my good friend Blackbeard got me out on a technicality and my imprisonment ended much quicker than it felt. On the advice of my rescuer and mystical attorney, I dare not go into details regarding who or why I was held captive for it was the simple act of identifying those responsible which first put me in peril. On the other hand I see no problem in my sharing the actual experience.

As I just mentioned I wrote about a certain something which is most forbidden to speak of, a heavily guarded and policed topic of concern. Before I'd completed discussing the story I blacked out and awoke in a tiny little cell. The room was fully furnished and carpeted comfortably but the unfamiliar surroundings left me in an unusual loss of control. I was dressed in a white shirt and a pair of Khakis and my hair had grown back full on, possibly plugs. My finger nails were manicured and my teeth had been cleaned yet without any recollection the improvements succeeded only in inspiring fear.

In the room I had a television which turned on in the morning with numerous smiling faces citing happy weathers and local news. When the program ended the prison door opened and a sharp piercing noise forced me to exit the room. There were no guards that I could see but my motions were predetermined as I felt forced into a reasonably luxurious car which drove itself to the work camp. Upon arriving at the labour site, an infinitely storied complex I was ejected politely from the vehicle with a shock. There was a steam of other prisoners all decorated similarly, shuffling their way past the lobby into tiny compartment. Many formalities such a hellos and small liquid refreshments were also subliminally inflicted upon us. After drinking the liquid I felt a narcotic sensation and was compelled to make strange phone calls and upload large files. Before I knew it. yet simultaneous with my exhaustion a bell rang and the building flooded out to the lots.

Bumper to bumper the cars all slowly moved along a barren stretch of concrete I hypothesized to be a great conveyor belt. My car dropped me back to the door of my cell only this time there were two baby's and a housewife and maid. As I walked through the door, which shut right behind me, the maid disappeared and the wife brought a drink. I sat down on the couch and noticed the room had gotten bigger, but despite the enlargement there was still no way out. The television news began reporting new stories, mostly about whether, charities, and the occasional foreign disturbance. There was a surreal conditioning to the air all around me and I began to get unexpectedly comfortable as I sank in the chair.

It was as the sun set that I lifted the bottle set out by my housewife and I nearly consumed it when I scratchy but familiar voice broke through the relaxing dream. "Don't even think about it" It was Blackbeard. He took the drink from my hands and poured peculiarly around the floor. The weird patterns that formulated from the spillage were bizarre beyond description. They were not geometric nor hieroglyphic, nor did they resemble any symbol or even stain. Blackbeard pushed me up from the chesterfield with on hand on each shoulder and leaned forward grunting the following instructions. " You've got to walk along those marks I made and focus quite deeply on everything that really matters and all of your hopes, goals, and dreams. Those marks I made are specifically different and no one routine or idea can retrace those steps. You're only way out of here is to break the routine and your only hope of doing that now is to walk a new pattern."

I remembered the comics and the aliens and unknown , so nodding to Blackbeard I jumped to the floor. The tracks were nearly impossible to navigate as no man, monster or ballerina could truly move their legs according to the steps. Forcefully turning my knees inside out and walking on parts of my feet I had never been aware of I found a way to move through the extravagant chaos. I must have broken two toes and severely strained my shoulder as the bruising has yet to even minutely subside. Nevertheless, all contorted and determination I made it and once the dance was completed I found myself home.

I am now back in my studio, totally bald and dressed in black, and a little bit stronger and wiser than before the insidious incident. But that is just how things tend to evolve whenever Blackbeard's involved. A horrible situation equals sincere revelation over and over as life rolls on. Thanks for saving my a-- again Blackbeard I'll find that book you're looking for first thing tomorrow.

http://www.heyapathy_comics-art.com/

ALTERNATIVE COMICS The MISSING ARTIST

HEY APATHY! Alternative COMICS

First of all let me introduces myself. My name is Blackbeard Daunkleweed and I am an employer and aquiantance of the artist who usually posts in this journal. I worked extensively with Mike Parsons last year on a project involving numerous unusual portraits and had left a book in his possession which I need to get back. The lad was supposed to meet me this afternoon but failed to show up to make the exchange, Naturally I'd assumed the worst of the freelance illustrator and decided to visit his studio for my goods,

I broke into this place only a few minutes ago and discovered the artist was nowhere in sight. There are no signs of a disturbance though the dishes are from yesterday, and his computer was left with yesterdays post on the screen. After reading his story I have figured the word. I taught that boy much etiquette on our travels together but never the less the idiot has gone astray. In yesterdays article, cut short mid-sentence, Mike made mention of some folk it ain't right to talk about and has surely paid the price.

Luckily for Mike I know all about this and though I'm not so stupid as to write out the details. Let's just say that by breaking the silentium, Mike is likely been imprisoned and I'm sure I know where. Since the book I require is not on the premises I guess I'll rescue the bastard and put things back in place. No worries, I'll have you're foolish alternative comics bloke back by tomorrow's post.  

ALTERNATIVE COMICS routine atrocities...

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics.! If any of you have been following these journals you may already be familiar with the creepy research and developments of the sub-human, yet ultimately superior, breed of creatures known only as invisible. The strange monster people are of the most powerful intellect. Their abilities to process data and patterns have far exceeded even the most analytic of mathematicians. The most terrifying part of the whole business is that their studies involve human behaviour and the mapping, recording and planning of our routines. The process is beyond scientific as "the invisible" processes our experiences like a chemist processes  drugs. At any rate the members of this society have figured out life's patterns to such an extent as to understand our every move.

 Sometimes they even enter our homes unobserved. In fact they move so intuitively in-between our routines that they are capable of following you through you kitchen or bath with out ever being seen. Truth is they look just like ordinary people, yet through their extraordinary research they have moved beyond normal senses. It is no trick or illusion or fictional power, it is simply a sophisticated formula devised of repetitious movements and peripheral avoidance. Fortunately I have not figured out their intentioned but would prefer not to speculate. I know one of them is here now but no matter how quickly I turn they can predict ( although I believe the term inaccurately describes their prowess of deduction) a cannot catch a glimpse. The only thing that I am certain of is that they don't like to be discussed and that most anyone who has mentioned them soon thereafter disappears. Any ways on to another subje

Alternative Comics Brain-Worm-Thing

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics

Many of us who've taken an interest in the weird development known as progress, often ask our selves a variety of questions concerning man's limitations when travelling through land, space and time. Just such a query was tempted my way this morning as I received an email notice that a local company trading in technologies was about to unveil a new device. The advertisement invited those selected to join in a midday presentation and at a chance to purchase the product at an unbelievably low introductory price.

I'd nothing much better to do than to investigate further so I attended the presentation with little debate. The new electronic was introduced although no a member of the crowd could have guessed it as the tiny computer looked an awful lot like a worm. The spokesperson held proudly in her manicured hands a small cup of fishing bait expecting our applause. " This little computer will change the way we travel. It's amazing capacities are beyond any of last years lines!" The model slipped in her excitement and toppled the container sending some of these "worms" reeling to the floor. There was a bit of a disturbance as some security blokes rushed to the stage. However a few seconds of whispers and shuffles restored all composure and the presentation proceeded as though uninterrupted.

The announcer began describing the prowess of the worms. She told us that it's virtual simulations bordered on reality. Claims were made that the device would be faster, infallible, and of the utmost import. As the speaker continued I could almost imagine the effect. Instantly the surroundings started fading away and I found my self on an island of tropical decent. The sun started shining and birds passed the sky as I felt a new relaxing sensation warm me up more than beach.

Information passed my unconscious in a flickering script and before I could enjoy the euphoria I knew that my files had been sorted. All of my office work for the next three full years flashed through my mind's eye and were orderly complete. Then I watched movies in a half of a second. The entire film cohesively was implanted in my brain. And as the experience became joyous when I connected with friends. Suddenly there was everyone that I'd ever met. We were all on the island chit chatting away in near perfect utopia when the strange sound began.

I was laughing uncontrollably in the ecstasy as the piercing began. At first a soft ringing, but growing steadily louder, the noise started aggravations before actual harm. Eventually I forgot all my hallucinatory fantasies falling sweaty to the floor red faced grasping my ears. Louder and ill-pitched by the second I felt the urge to scream loudly but couldn't bare another sound. Hands started on my shoulder trying to hold me and I saw shuffling around at my feet. The noise blacked out my vision and I heard the announcer's voice trying to calm the obviously distressed onlookers.

When I awoke I was in my apartment completely free from all pain. I'd no idea how I'd gotten there nor much recollection of the time in between. Of coarse this left me rattled so first I went for a short walk. After breathing some fresh air I returned to the computer. The email notice had been deleted from my files and though I contacted the tech company no one seemed to know anything of the worm. Now once again acting naturally I laid on my bed, another bad dream perhaps or only a story? It was just before passing into a slumber that I resigned to belief in these logical explanations. That's when I heard the other sound. It was all bass and liquid completely different from the nightmarish pitch which rendered me unconscious but it came from the same source. Deep within my ear the noise ruggedly escalated but before it evolved to terrifying volumes a large squish signalled it's end .The little metallic brain-worm-thing excavated itself from my cranium slopped on to the floor an escaped into a crevice beside the internet wall jack under my desk.

ALTERNATIVE COMICS MONSTER PIXIES

HEY APATHY Alternative Comics Fable

So the little tiny person sitting on a prickly stemmed plant in the middle of the park, broad daylight, says to me, "The hardest part of writing a story is figuring out how it ends. If you do that first, the rest should come easy" after which he flew away.

We had argued for some time over numerous park etiquette as the 3 and a half inch tall person had felt I intruded on it's space. Intruded? I didn't even see him and besides I was quietly reading my book. How could I be disturbing anyone of in my own little world. The pixie grunted back that I had blotted out his sun, but rapidly switched te subject and criticized me for my book.

The debate rambled on about this and that of how books are useless especially those made of fiction! The imp stated that no man had much of any reason to say and that even those who would author nature would print it on her corpse. No there was no way around it and by the end I almost agreed. Most of what people say is nonsense and why celebrate those who'd been published.

At this I turned to documentaries. Surely biographies and historical account are of great value. "Lies, half- truths, propaganda! All of it ill used!" The little monster grew fangs and interjected that even those words were all corrupt. So without any further counter points I conceded that the past time was merely a hobby, by which I could escape my mundane routines. The creature now turned darker, more prickly and I'd most certainly come to fear it, when with a hiss all fangs and vibrato the creature announced " Escape your routines! You've blocked my sun every day at 3 o'clock and the terrorization begins at noon on the weekends! " With that the being said the bit about the story and was off never to be seen again.

visit http://www.heyapathy-comics-art.com/

  

Alternative Comics THE STREET ART EXPERIMENT

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics Street Art

Early Monster Comics Street Art displays

THE RED HOOD (lasted two days bfore it was covered with ink)

Flicker Flicker the screen gow thicker. My mind's eye virbates  lost, and each of my senses is tossed. Today I learned how to html white bacground on my website and have spent a short 14 hours fixing up the pages. Anyways the site looks a lot better but my brain is frizzled.  Good news is I've been accepted into both the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition and the Metro Toronto Comic Convention. Got the news today so things are only going to keep getting busier. I posted these street pics in celebration of this years good fortunes (the Ontario Arts Council Grant, the Toy Design, T.O.A.E. and Comic cons) to remind me how far I've come and to pester me knowing how far I've yet to go.

 

Check out http://www.heyapathy-comics-art.com/monster-comics-street-art.html to see some extensive postings I finished today.

ALTERNATIVE COMICS The Case of the Missing Roof ...

HEY APATHY! Strange Alternative Comics

I woke up extra early this morning to an usually bright sun competing with a strong winter breeze. The frequently fluctuating weather stirred me from my slumber. As I turned on my side preparing to open my eyes, I thought of how strong the winds must be in order to so entirely penetrate my small bedroom window. Sitting up with a stretch and yawningly opening my eyes I shockingly discovered there was no roof on my house.

All of my belongings, the kitchen and bath, were undisturbed in there places only their was no roof nor any walls. I looked out over the street and into the park in amazement without a clue as to what to do. Only a small child running ahead of his mother to school took the time to glance upward and pass me a wave. No one else noticed. It was not by any means of disguise, the folks on the street simply never look up. They are all in a rush in the morning and most of them wore headphones or were occupied by small devices.

I tried calling the landlord but succeeded only in messaging. I also tried the papers but they were unimaginably difficult to contact as a celebrity was in town who'd been seen at a cafe. Finally I reported the incident to the police. I decided to make breakfast and clean up a bit and was thankful that none of the apartments amenities had left with the roof.

About an hour and a half, which I spent practicing the piano, after making my report the police finally arrived. At the same exact moment the land lord and a fire truck also pulled up. Two police officers and the proprietor of the rooms came crawling up the rescue ladder and over the side of house. After a brief fit of hysteria, the officials calmed my frantic landlord and entered into a line of stern questioning from which I learned of the shocking absurdities which made this fairly reasonable situation churn to a nightmare.

I gathered from the roof top inquiries that the reason for the extended delay on the part of the officials was due to the fact that they had passed my report as a crank file. It was not until the landlord corroborated my story that the response was sent out. However, the landlord's position regarding the occurrence differed quite drastically from what my own perception. The landlord, named James claimed he'd never heard of me. And what was worse is that he claimed that the house never even had a fourth floor! James had received my message, which was really weird because despite the fact that I remembered him as well as any tenant does his super, we had apparently never met. After hearing the strange recording he drove by to inspect his property and was compelled to venture immediately for the police.

I gave the police my identification which they had to send down the ladder, while several fire fighters inspected the roof. I saw them talking and scratching their heads before they turned to whisper something in the police sergeants ear. He relayed to me that the experts declared my relocation a task indefinitely inconceivable for any single man. They stated that certain construction, such as the sinks and cabinets would have taken much time and equipment to install in working order on top of a roof. Besides that the flooring a carpets were completely in tact. A survey of witnesses was hardly worth while, as the entire construction was in fact entirely impossible.

After this report the police relaxed a little towards me and another officer came up over the side. At this we discovered that my personal details were all in order. In fact even my registered address was almost the same. The street, house and apartment number all checked out, until a small discrepancy in the postal code gave way. This single letter difference revealed that my own apartment was on a different B------- Avenue!

A few standard procedures later and the chief detective, the first two officers, and a car load of curious firefighter's and myself drove across town to examine the apartment corresponding with the zip. The land lord stayed behind infuriated, however he volunteered to had arrangements made for the safe removal of my belongings. The drive lasted only minutes with the sirens and we arrived at the house. It was exactly like the one I'd woke up in only it still had a top floor. The street and the park were identical although I thought it best not to mention it. In the officer's eyes I was likely one stray comment away from the asylum.

We all entered the house and the other borders greeted me. Everything was in order as I'd remembered it to be. My key unlocked the top floor apartment but the rooms were entirely barren. Fortunately dust and age marks on the flooring perfectly mapped out the layout which had obviously been hastily removed. The investigators subsided that this was in fact an identical layout to the strange roof top anomaly and could certainly prove that all my furniture was once here.

The officer's asked my housemate numerous questions and perplexed by their discoveries decided to call the building's owner. James, the land lord of this second building arrived looking uncannily identical to the angered James on the roof. Even the officer's were startled. The only distinguishing characteristic I can explain was that this second James seemed that much more like my memories but not for any identifiable reason.

So following much deliberation, the police decided to release me though the courts will likely assign me the bill for returning my things. There is a moving company lowering the furniture as I write, and I am expecting all my possessions by six o'clock tonight. The officer's warned me that this would go in their files and that they would be watching in case of any further occurrences. My earlier suspicions were consolidated as the chief Detective turned back before exiting and said "You probably shouldn't talk about this much, you don't want to end up at the center for addiction and mental health." I glanced out at the frenzied streets, people and towers and answered unintentionally "I am already be there."

 

http://www.heyapathy-comics-art.com/

ALTERNATIVE COMICS the hole

HEY APATHY ALTERNATIVE COMICS

Following a productive morning cleaning and a relaxing mother's day afternoon with both my mother and sister , who is also a mother, before returning from the quiet east end to the hustle of the Gear. On my journey back, during on of those brief above ground stretches of the subway track, I noticed the sun had made it's way out for the first time today. As any weather watching opportunist knows that the sunshine in the city is scarce, I got off the train a few stops early and decided to take to a stroll.

The oddest thing happens before I could reach the sun. The exit to the subway was guarded by yellow tape and where there once had been stairs there was now only a hole. The empty and seemingly bottomless black cave like anomaly laid horizontal and circular in place of the steps. The opening was approximately 15 feet in length appearing simultaneously deep and impenetrably solid. There were thin black lines shooting off from the edges, some of which had coiled up the walls suggestive of an explosion. However I was certain there was no such catastrophe as the aura of the thing scarcely intimidated me. I have been to places were bad things have happened and although I am not a superstitious, mystical or even remotely spiritual person,. I promise you that a telling residue stains tainted places.

I looked down to the ends of the plat form but oddly enough not another soul had got off. And there were no alternative exits on my side of the tracks. With no other option I crossed the yellow warning and peered into the tunnel. It was as if the tunnel was now vertical and opened directly in front of me when with a flooding gust of the wind pushed me enough to force a proper stance. I heard strange sounds and squealing as of the next train, only with inhuman reverberation and coming from the hole. The wind stop instantly turning my defensive foot hold against me and I sent my self off balance and forward into the black hole.

The lighting was nearly indescribable for only a foot in the cavern turned pitch black beyond belief, yet I could clearly see the station behind me brightly lit like a movie. None of the exterior rays had penetrated the hole. All the laws of light and physics were contradicted by the precise separation from this world and the other. I turned back to the blackness after examining the divide with a curios compulsion to venture farther ahead.

Before I took three steps I saw a little light and a strange sort of jelly floated into my path. The jelly was only about 4 or 5 inches at any length and it was perpetually morphing and jiggling around. I recognised small human faces and features in the amorphous creature and as I became aware of them mentally the forms grew more complete.

I tested this coincidence and found the my theories true. What ever I imagined the strange monster would mimic. I thought of trinkets and comic characters and music and art and with each and every thought the parody was perfect. I thought of cats and an elephants when just as I started to master the process my mind started drifting. I wondered what time it was and whether the sun was still out. The jelly turned into a clock then a sun symbol. Harmless enough but then I pictured the streets and when I saw them in front of me I accidentally imagined war

The terror of my stray thoughts only instigated their wanderings and many horrible visions twisted among the suspended glob. With my meditation broken all the layers of mind poured out. I could see myself thinking about thinking before the thoughts entered my mind. I saw my best childhood memories mix with my previously unconscious dreams. fragments of news casts, weird stories and theories presented themselves fleetingly but with the utmost of accuracy. The shapes shifting faster than my vision could handle but aside from the nausea, I understood each and every form. After all they were merely reflections of the things I had thought of.

I froze in terror at the actualization of my brain waves. There were so many images and ideas more abundant than I imagined. For the first time I could hear all the levels cohesively and was struck by a monstrous notion. I thought about reshaping the world as easily I reshaped the morphing moulds. This was too much for me to handle. Sweating and shivering I nearly gave out. My only hope of escape lied in deep concentration.

Summoning all of my will and holding my breath I focussed on the first safe image which came to my mind. I am sitting on the subway. I could see the orange seating and the neon glow. I concentrated on the feet of the passengers in front of me. For a moment my own image was seated just across from me and for the first time in my life I could see from another’s eyes. The transforming subliminal organism vibrated with anger. The form started personifying and grew two devilish horns. I know not what it did next for I realized that through these observations I would certainly start another runaway train of thoughts. The orange seats, feet and glow, seats, feet and glow, the subway came to a jolt and I awoke at my stop. There was no hole in the underground the hole was in my head!  

 

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