Canadian Art

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

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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ALTERNATIVE COMICS Technologically Natural Mutations

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics!

On the left two people can be seen growing and flourishing among the plants and foliage, peacefully moving through wondrous cycles. As a distorted reflection their counterparts lay entangled, dressed in suits, amidst a metallic cluster of technological tentacles. Each side embraces it’s unusual predicament yet in the center the two worlds collide with evolutionary results. The vines and computers meet head on, mixing and mutating into a strange new form. As the opposing developments amalgamate in bizarreness, one of the electric tentacles breaks free from the form. Swinging uncontrollably through the air around the newly conceived creation the wire persistently spews black liquids throughout the open sky. more at http://www.heyapathy-comics-art.com/

ALTERNATIVE COMICS in SPACE!

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics

ALTERNATIVE COMICS Return of the Hero...

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics

After an annihilating battle with corporate masters and an endless barrage of billboard advertisements, the hero was left a mere skeletally deformed weak malformation. However having been reduced to a shamble zombie deprived of his identity and possessions the little decimated hero did not lose himself completely. Lying in an intoxicated stupor in a damp and dark alley the man started to dream. In his dreams he remembered his hopes and triumphs. Not the triumphs that he was celebrated for but an unexplainable sort of light. The trees grew in those dreams and so did the minds of the children and all things seemed free and energized as in the days of his former glory. Awaken by a siren the hero found his haziness cleared and stood up from the ground with an entirely new hope. Beside him lay some disregarded riot gear, an old police helmet and armour abandoned by a squad a few days back. The acidity of the rain and the alley itself, tinted the equipment and altered the colouring. As his flesh had yet to regenerate after the long court room conflicts he decided to protect himself with these strangely unique objects. Now in his weird new protective gear he could continue his fight without fearing publicity. He was burnt, scarred and hideously ugly but never so ready to enter the war for humanity…

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

ALTERNATIVE COMICS A Robotic Romance

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics

In this part of world, a strange as it is, there is little room for anomalies and everything is pretty much the same. All the houses are similar, the cars and the schools. And since the library only has online books now a days there is little left to remind us of the past. There is however one odd piece of land north about an hour drive through the suburbs from the city. Up there the whole landscape has been developed into homes with the bizarre exception of a few tiny acres. Surrounded on all sides by new homes and backyard fences sit’s a little farmland untouched and still used. An aging old man gets up every morning and works in the fields as though nothing has changed. He doesn’t care that all our food come from laboratories nor does he mind that he is able to produce very little. It seems that it is the habits and chores that he loves and has stuck to his calling for longer than I remember.

The man rarely leaves the grounds except for a Sunday mass and breakfast. Only a small convoy of trucks have ever entered which transport his goods to the hills. No developer, nor lawman, or even a guest was ever welcomed into his small private land. That is until recently. Lately the farmer has been seen relaxing a bit in the company of a young woman. Rumours have it they met at the diner after church. She was a charmer and apparently from a family of farmers so the old man was taken and took up a friend. Within weeks of her presence the farm started changing, the grasses grew longer and certain area’s turned unkempt. The farmer and the lady were seen more often in town and the eventual marriage came of little surprise.

After the wedding the farmer resumed his regular chores while his young wife seemed to scold him secretly and spent all her time on the phone. It was a hot sunny morning when the situation had escalated and the whole town had known of the newly weds incredible fight. Witness, and there were a lot of them given the houses around the farm, saw the women running across the fields yelling after the man as he near unconsciously ploughed. She was citing certain legal phrases no one else could understand and the farmer snapped out of his daze looking fearful and angry. That is when the accident occurred. His wife fell forwards and landed close to the plough which caught her hair violently shaking her about. When the farmer pulled her out there was no blood, nor bodily damage but her face had removed revealing a mechanical shell! The wife was made of metal and wires! Nothing more than a machine! Some of the witnesses claim that she even had electric tentacles under her false wig of human hair.

Nevertheless the couple have been in court ever since attempting to sort out the details of their inevitable divorce. It would appear that with out prenuptials the robot women is entitled to the farm though the farmer has taken up arms and refuses to finalize the divorce. At best he may win half the land but these proceedings get quite complicated and his case is a rather difficult one as the laws of robot right are still vague and open to interpretation. But for now the farm is quiet and still sitting in place. The farmer is tending his fields and the neighbourhood is watching curiously and wondering if the new houses destined to grow beside them will be bigger and better equipped than the ones they already own.

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ALTERNATIVE COMICS The Employee

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics

Today was a rather one of forced relaxation. The news reported a heat alert but I was able to call that one for myself. It was dry, but it was hot and I felt slightly depleted by the time I arrived at the café despite unconscious to walk in the shade. By ,midday it was sweltering , almost to hot to read when I decided to head home for some food a the fan. The fridge was getting low and I’d already went over my weekly salary so I prepared a peanut butter sandwich saving the real food for dinner. It occurred to me that I should probably seek better work but I’ve always despised wearing a uniform and the music they play. That’s when the phone rang, it was my brother who works in the office. The one who is always travelling, well fed, drank wine and perpetually and honestly boasting that I should come work for him.

“Yes” I thought to myself, this time I’ll say yes. On top of starvation and mounting bills, I’d injured my self cycling and could not afford the therapy/ An ambulance drove by with it’s sirens blaring. The sound subsided and an amplified voice ordered “MOVE TO THE RIGHT. MOVE TO THE RIGHT” from a loud speaker. Funny, I don’t recall ever hearing the megaphone before, must have really been something in the way.  “Yes” I replied to my brother’s scheduled offer. The offer always followed his commentary on the sports. “Great come out to the house right away and we’ll get you prepared.”

I took the train out to the developments and was at my brother by 1. I was suited with a blue shirt, trousers and shoes. “I had them waiting for you! Taylor made!” My brother smiled. He looked like a commercial and had that terrible music playing. I got dressed and thought to myself this isn’t bad. I felt proud and nationalistic, like a part of the team. “That will never do, here.” my brother interrupted and then passed me some lifts to put in my shoes. The barber was next, I was trimmed and dyed a solid colour, my hair always intermingled various hues of brown. I smiled at my reflection feeling empowered again. The same terrible music was sparkling in the background.

By half passed two we had successfully purchased a home, a car, furniture and a large screen video screen for me. I signed a whole bunch of papers and made the transaction on credit. “ You’re all set, let’s get you to work shall we.” He turned on my new computer which instantly greeted us with that terrible music I had now become very familiar with. Showing me some tasks on the company software, my brother said I can catch up today on a number of duties though the system closed at nine. “Isn’t it great, you can do you’re work right from home, but tomorrow you’ll have to work at the office. By that time you’ll have the software down.”

“What’s it like at the office?”

“It’s great, you do the same thing as you’re doing now only it’s at the office. At the office you can talk about sports.”

“Do they play this music?”

“Right until lunch that’s how you know it’s time to eat, check the scores. Then it plays again until it‘s time to go home.”

My brother left my new house, since abandoned, for about forty-five minutes before I cracked. I’d everything I could ever want, a huge debt and security, but that terrible music wore my patients like a lifetime of torture. I ran to the train a was home in time for dinner. I made the pasta and salad that I ’d been saving all day and lay there in silence for the firs since taking the new job. A police car sped past the window, no speakers, but sirens though I couldn’t hear anything but the monotonous melody of that terrible music subliminally staining my memory. I lost the clothes, washed out the hair dye and forfeited all my new possessions and credit, yet I cannot escape the endless recital of the terrible music which keeps playing over and over, only not in the back ground this time but permantly stained  in the back of my mind!

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ALTERNATIVE COMICS A Heroic Assimilation

HEY APATHY! Alternative comics

Flicker, flicker, the gigantic screen transmits sublimated imagery faster than a speeding bullet. The repetitive yet ever so slight evolution of the messages bombards our homes, the streets and the theatre offering us heroic salvation with each flashing new scene. The superhuman, having arrived from a far off star , brings promise of hope and freedom as he expends his supernatural abilities in the name of justice. As his presence brings joy to the world with each new adventure, the attention mounts tensely and all eyes turn towards the alien.

 At first he was publicized as an enigma, and shortly thereafter mimicked, but despite all his triumphs the man receives no solitude. He had devised a secret home far from civilization but the documentary crew sought it out for use as a stage. Forced to reside in among men of the city, the hero falls upon financial hardship. The monetary rewards for the dispersion of evil were few and far between until the sponsors stepped in. Running shoes, capes, band aids and ice packs and any and every other product under the sun would come to bear his likeness and dignified symbol until the media madness began to take it’s toll. After missing the opportunity to thwart a fascist power due to a photo-op worth millions the hero underwent an alarming change. Realizing that his battles proved far less profitable and that the villainous regime was disempowered just the same, the alien turned towards more commercial endeavours all but forsaking his predestined quest.

Over the course of a few months, several movies and commercials, the alien became fixated on a cola he’d endorsed. Supplied with a life time quantity the hero proceeded to devour first two, then three and as many as twelve cans per day. Oddly enough the reasonably harmless cola churned malice and addiction against the unusual extraterrestrials DNA. At first the consumption resulted in malaise but soon ate away at the soldier’s physique. His skin peeled off in a leprous fashion and his skeleton underwent painful malformations. His abilities subsided as did his will until there was nothing left of the once glorious figure but a zombie-like core. Fortunately for the corporations which proffered him wealth his deformations remain a secret to this very day and no one seems to miss the champion of the future because severak younger and palatable actors have filled his place.

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

ALTERNATIVE COMICS The Big Show

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics

The Big Show came to town last week and it was truly an incredible sight! Of all the television shows, reality based or otherwise, the Big Show has always been my favourite and by far the longest running. I remember when I was a child watching the program broadcast from the world all over and I remember being terrified ( as children are far more susceptible to such fears) accordingly with the varied presence. The program, with which you are certainly aware, is more often than not quite terrifying yet despite it’s harsh pragmatism fairs well as, up until now, it has always taken place in foreign lands. The plot is very simple and deliberately repetitive, but that what makes it so palatable for we know the good guys always win. Each episode depicts some sort of rebel rousing resultant in street violence at which time the heroes always rush and retain order. The protagonists, of course, are the Big Show Boys in Black, an magnificent troupe of patriotic officers undefeated in their mission to maintain justice. My earliest recollections involved their successful dethroning of an evil government bent on forcing the people of that land ( I don’t remember which one) into living in poverty, starvation, and desolation while the kingdom was drowned in golden riches. Needless to say that the Show overthrew the terrible King and proudly opened a Fast Food Franchise in celebration of the victory. No more would those starving outlanders have to eat unhealthily useless rations, the Show had brought burgers to that strange and far off land!

Since that time of confused terror remedied by the almighty burger, the show has roared on battling in the name of humanity where ever it was called for. In fact I suspect that the Show has been on longer than I even remember for my great grandfather’s notebook suggests it used on the radio before T.V. Of course it could never have been so fantastic nor believable without the moving pictures, I mean it’s one thing to hear a fire or bullet but another to marvel in visual effects. On top of all that the villains could never have been so villainous without the assistance of a close cropped image to reveal the hideousness of their eyes. Oh how amazing it is to watch freedom triumph! How amazing it is to watch the world as it is freed!

Given my obvious and unabashed fascination with the episode you can only imagine how excited I was when only a few years ago the show started producing special episodes in places closer to home. Yes I saw some reruns from way back which were filmed in familiar locations, but the clothes and cars were all funny looking and the film used to be grainy. These episodes, though entertaining, lacked the shocking immediacy of today’s programming appearing even more distant that the real time excursions from exotic lands. Thus the syndications always seemed as though they were staged and lacked excitement as the outcome was never in question. Not that it is ever in question, but that slight possibility of unwanted disaster keeps us all tuning in for more. Needless to say when the Show started touring cities on this continent, I not only tuned in more frequently but found that the broadcasts had quadrupled.

Then, in the most incredibly excited moment of all of my days, the announcements were made during a promo that the Big Show was coming to town! How I jumped for joy at this most glorious opportunity, at last I could stand in the studio audience, maybe even participate in my wildest fantastical dream! Immediately I went to the barber’s to have my head cleared and a shave. I purchased the latest and most elegant suit and hat and even had my teeth cleaned. In the weeks leading up to the grand event I exercised and ate especially well for I wouldn’t like to caught on film looking anything shy of my best. ( Don’t tell anyone but I even went so far as to spend a bit of the grocery credits on a few minor Botox injections) Yes I was more than ready for my chance to be a star.

The production started a few days prior to the shoot and I was fortunate to watch all the proceedings. First they installed the camera’s and soon afterwards came the flying machines. Overhead I could see airplanes and many, many helicopters and my enthusiasm pumped ripened adrenaline in and out through my veins Celebrity announcements were made and Show Boys arrived, followed by hordes of fans. People from all over the country showed up to celebrate the Big Show. I first spotted the cast on bicycles, then in cars and even (my heart is melting) posing undercover so as to avoid paparazzi entanglements. The city was buzzing and entirely changed as the stage was setting I had little doubt that this was going to be an excellent episode.

At the same time as the perimeter players were occupying the city, the game was put into place and the rules all sorted out. The best part of the Show is always the game. Though I previously mentioned that the plot is never dissimilar, the game always changes. Some times the Show Boys invade villainous territory, other times they defend locations of there own. As a reality program the extra’s are always made out of a live audience among which the villains often inconspicuously and blatantly reside. This time it was sort of a defending race in which the participants were challenged to conquer a strategic maze with the ultimate goal of viewing or breeching a protected sector. It is also of note that the general public is encouraged to participate in any of the challenges which makes the visitation of the program all the more stimulating. The gated territory was constructed at the same time as the perimeter processions. At first, as if to give the public and villains a chance, the area was openly accessible but was abruptly sealed off and guarded shortly prior to the broadcast. “How exhilarating!” I thought to my self as the Show Boys surrounded me when I unknowingly trotted to close to set.

When I say “unknowingly” it is not that I do not know my city well, only that I obviously misconstrued the boundaries of the arena for I stayed well away from the fence. I didn’t want to cheat or to be disqualified early so decidedly retained all my normal habits and routines. My neighbourhood is quiet and a distance from the stage, yet I was stopped, intimidated and searched four times before the performance commenced. It was like a dream come true and I found myself gushing under the pressure of the surrounding celebrity. Imagine me buying groceries and being interrogated by the Show Boys! Alas I am boasting but the experience was feverishly enlightened and you would all feel the same way had you been caught in the spotlight with such stars.

At any rate the show started in schedule and the streets filled with thousands of participants, fans and villains, marching through the street ready to obtain the prizes presented full force. Myself, I cared little about reaching the aforementioned goal, as I was proud enough to witness the play unfold first hand. I walked and marched through the streets, the alleys and the parks but to little or no avail. The show was not so exciting and with the exception of a few congested corners I was greatly disappointed. People were shopping and eating and I watched some parades roll by. There was a lot of music and costumes but little of the show’s regular zeal. At first I avoided the safety zone, for any regular viewer knows that nothing happens there until later in the program, but the action was nil. In fact I was so disappointed that I returned home on this most anticipated day.

Upon arriving in my apartment I turned on the tele and much to my surprise the show started to pay off! The villains had attacked and the streets had turned to chaos! There were cars burning and much vandalism and the Show Boys were taking action. It was invigoratingly fulfilling to see all the action normally associated with the Show. Recognizing the locations I rushed out to the street and made my way to were the excitement had been! I admit witnessing the production was slightly disappointing as the same event portrayed with majesty on the screen were calm and nearly disinteresting in real life. The terror seemed less real, even somewhat staged and most certainly on a smaller scale than the television suggested. Nevertheless I was very pleased to stand face to face with a line of armed and shielded superstars as I watched a precariously placed Show vehicle burning filling the sky with a beautiful cloud of smoke. Satisfied and delighted I strolled the streets some more discovering some minor damage but little more.

Had only I stayed for shortly there after the show reached it’s pinnacle and the Boy’s took control. Shots were fired and people were arrested and trampled. More cars set a flame and the everything turned fantastic. The Show Boy’s started to take prisoner’s. 900 by the end, and me wandering the streets endlessly surrounded by tourists, shoppers and peaceful supporting fans. I made my way up to the safety zone but was denied access. Damn! The second act must have already started. The safety zone is always trouble but you’d have to make it in good time. So I returned home once again to track the progress.

The television showed me all the wondrous this that I missed including the seizure of the safety zone and the Boy’s triumph over denizens at the very location I’d only just been! No one had found the fence and the villains put on a good fright, but the Show Boy’s were muscling in a I knew the game was finished. The entire weekend was amazing and I don’t regret my ill-timed march for the video captured footage was enough for me. I saw all my favourite scenarios from episodes past played out my city. I even saw a number of my friends who got to be captured live on the show. One of them was even jumped and beaten but I promised my self not to be too jealous. Watching the show like this brought about a new devotion, so much so that I cannot express how proud I am to live hear.

The show packed up after two days of wonderful footage leaving the city as swiftly as it came. I’ve been watching the clips over and over and I never get bored. This must be how New Yorker’s feel when they read comics or watch movies. The backdrop makes me fell included in the magic. The foreign episodes seem to pale as entertainment in comparison though I cannot escape a sense of new brotherhood with those places previously featured. And so the greatest event of my life, the day the Big Show came to town, had ended. The fence came down and the audience went home. Even the T.V. and the news report pretended like it never happened. For a short time I was overcome by depression likely quite normal to one who has been overly stimulated but my empty feelings didn’t last long. No, I am observant and I fanatic follower of the Show, that I soon realized there was no need for my distain. First I saw that the Show helicopter’s had stayed on in abundance despite the closed production, then I noticed an unusually large group of Show Cars boxing in a football celebration and then, be still my beating heart which skipped a beat, I saw a row of 15 Show Boys riding bicycles around the intersection where I live. Like I said I am virtually a student of this great program, it’s plots and scripts, and I am most happily certain that they plan to film here again soon.

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ALTERNATIVE COMICS G20 Residuals

HEY APATHY! Alterantive Comics

G20 Residuals … So the so called riot has ended, the idiots in masks have vanished ( actually they are sitting peacefully in the parks bragging garbed in normal hippie street wear) and a lot of peaceful protestors have gathered to complain about their wrongful imprisonment over the weekend. As a result of the G20 exodus the police presence has finally subsided right? WRONG they are still here!!! I have seen almost as many cops, though mostly in squad cars, scavenging the city all freaking day. In fact there are currently 15 cruiser’s parked outside of my studio guarding a pub celebrating the world cup. This particular bar has been partying for weeks with good fun dancing, music, beer, plastic trumpets and flags but not once prior to the G20 protest did any officer take notice. Today they are walled in by our boys in black. I admit the cops look foolish, some of them were even in mild celebration over the football game, but they are looking for trouble an in excess of the norm. To me this is actually scarier than the entirety of last week because it would appear that Toronto has just slipped itself unnoticed a step further towards a real police state. I was just profiled again because my clothes are all black even though the summit is over and the intensity of the protests have all but entirely passed.

Alternative Comics G20 from the streets...

HEY APATHY! ALTERNATIVE COMICS

Today was a very quiet one in the neighbourhoods and main strips of downtown Toronto. The G20 has reaped a previously unheard of force of police security and surveillance through out the streets. Over the past few days I’ve encounter and been interrogated by numerous bike police. There are unmarked vans circle around all the parks and cop cars every few minutes. The city has really slowed down as both noticeable decrease can be scene in both pedestrian and automobile traffic. Today however was entirely uneventful. I strolled around and read in the park and not once did I witness or encounter any signs of official intervention.

There was, of course, for the first time this week a scuffle resulting in one of the most grotesque slapping noises I’d ever heard as a fist flew sluggishly, yet all powerful, into the face of an unsuspecting target. The two had been play fighting but the game obviously had escalated. It appeared to be over when the hard cheap shot came. Admitingly I’d taken alarm to these folk nearly an hour earlier but assumed that local security would get them first. I also knew half way through the fight exactly what was going to happen when the playing was done. These guys wreaked of trouble, though not in any relation to the protests of the summit, but alas there wasn’t a sole cop to be seen. I suppose the rally got out of hand because the foot patrol so demonously overwhelming Kensington and surrounding areas patrol of late was clearly called to another location…

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ALTERNATIVE COMICS Web Comics and Stories

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics

 

HEY APATHY! Is an ongoing artistic investigation into the metropolis, the monsters, people and the mechanics of being. In the earliest artworks the city is announced as an ominous gear spun by an endless sea of faceless denizens. . Since that time I have executed an unconventional interview using street art and public interactions to uncover the true nature of the urban landscape. The online catalogue follows my seven year quest featuring illustrations, comics, murals, performances and animation strung together as a narrative adventure. As a result of my experiments the story of the gear has grown and changed much. Today the metropolis is still rendered as a giant machine, only now it is all the different characters, not anonymous cogs, who fuel the machine!

MONSTER COMICS is a web comic following my misadventures on a freelance assignment for a strange mystic named Weird Blackbeard. Blackbeard is a patron of the arts knowledgeable of all things unusual who commissioned me to do some surreal portraits early last year. The job proved extraordinary nearly costing me life, limb and possession but it was worth the fiasco to get all these cool drawings….

SURREAL COMICS is a collection of illustrated stories and correlated strips featuring tales of the unknown. Morphologically relevant satirical dreams regarding alien encounters, distorted monsters and the sudden appearance of rooms which should not be.

ALTERNAITVE COMICS Happy Father's Day!

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD!!!

I doubt there are many successful or creative people in the world who made their way without the help of others. My “HEY APATHY!” project is no different and on this the day for dad’s, I’d like to express my overwhelming gratitude for all the help and support I’ve received from my father. My dad has been an incredible force in assisting me in making all my crazy comics and art. If it weren’t for his  help I’d have never made it this far ( whether or not that’s a good thing is up to you to decide).

My father has been an integral part of all my outdoor exhibitions and street performances. He built the portable red wall gallery I use  and has on numerous occasions handled the transportation and set up for shows. He has also  hosted entire events all on his own and was really successful a few weeks ago in Ottawa showing the work at a festival, When I worked as a street artist he helped me with my display and made frequent trips the dollar store to make sure I  always had frames for the busy weekends. During that time he also set up a work shop in his basement where he built, stretched and primed all of my canvas’ for two years while I was creating such work. Today that same work shop is used for framing paper drawings and shrink wrapping prints.

My Dad helping battle the wind at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition

He also handles all of my printing and publishing, doing all the necessary research, leg work, and shipping to make sure that my merchandise is top notch and readily available. This work has included the publication of three graphic novels, two limited edition silk screen posters, a line of t-shirts and various digital prints. He is currently hard at work developing the large scale posters we hope to have ready later this year. My father also financed the construction of my website, http://www.heyapathy-comics-art.com/ , as well a several road trips to promote the work including a vineyard in Niagra Falls and some performances in Manhattan. (see the New York photo below).

STREET ART photo of the road trip to New York

There are probably several hundred other things he’s done for HEY APATHY! that I can’t think of right now not to mention his raising, feeding and sheltering me throughout my formulative years, but all good Dads do that. I’d also  like to mention that along with all the hard work he does with me he is also a full time babysitter dividing his energy between watching over my two-year charming nephew Darroch (named after my father) and his crazy older brother Don. I don’t know were he finds the energy but he’s still going and has a done a lot better at keeping his hair than I have. Thanks for all the support Dad, couldn't do it without you. You don’t know how much it means to me!!!

ALTERNATIVE COMICS of SHADOWS...

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics

Over the years of my weird studies I’ve read, watched and witness many happenings involving shadows. In stories they have boxed back, hid dark secrets and in a certain instance a ghost impersonated one for a groundhog. On film I’ve seen battles in which ninja move in and out of them and at night I’ve been mesmerized by an odd kaleidoscope of twirling shapes on my ceiling which don’t quite align with the passing traffic which supposedly causes them. It is clear that these unassuming darkened reflections of the world hold secrets which are generally taken for granted.

Having arrived at this deduction I felt it was only natural to investigate the matter more thoroughly . In order to do so I came up with a simple plan involving a few powerful photography lamps and a selection of household products. Setting up my devices in the studio with an intuitive particularity, I proceeded to cast large shadows on the wall of the loft. My intention was to briefly meditate on each form before capturing some quick gestures with my India ink and brush.

I’d no expectations as to what I might find, which as the physicist knows can be both progressive and troubling. It is of the utmost interest to discover things you aren’t looking for, but without direction or intention can one discover anything at all? Well I certainly found out something that maybe I shouldn’t have as the shadows began to take on a life of their own. When casting a mug I found a four legged creature and the mop, broom and bucket revealed a horse. I tried some chairs and a nightstand only to discover a strange form which looked a lot like Australia. And finally I put forth some of my groceries and mixed everything together which projected the clear and precise image of a human form.

That form divided itself into two similar factions both growing horns and dancing about. A third figure, less sleek and more bulbous appeared shortly thereafter and the three unusual creatures enveloped the wall. As they crept around the north side of my studio their shapes grew more definite and their actions less obscure. I could see they were pacing hastily as though in search of object becoming increasingly frantic and frustrated as they went about. It was a horrible scene but strangely fantastic so I grabbed my paper and imitated the forms on the page.

At this the shadows stopped and turned towards me, pointing and relaxing as though their query had ceased. Suddenly I felt a terrible chill which caused me to draw rapidly though I wasn’t sure why and for some reason was accepting of the occurrence. Not an unusual thought regarding these shadow had entered my mind. I didn’t think about the absurdity nor question the movements until the shapes started changing. Like a small clustered disco ball little flickers of light danced from inside, and the dark flat shadows appeared more multi-dimensional. I could see strange organic clusters around the area of the creatures faces revealing them selves in unknown forms which I can explain better with my pen.

More Monsters?

 

I rushed to complete the images which still did not bother me for I must have been under some sort of dream spell. The horns and the meat faces became clearly visible as did their hands and small remnants of clothes. Marvelling at the magnificent find I paused for a moment to bask in the weirdness slowly engulfing me. It was in this petrified moment that my senses returned initiated by the most terrifying thing I’d ever scene. Not the horns, nor the hands, nor the clothing astounded me, not even the amorphously butchered globular mess which passed itself as their faces. It was one last transformation which sent me into a panicked fear, finally breaking the hypnotic clutches dulling my thoughts. As the shadows pointed with authority in my direction I saw the them for the first time as something other than shade. One by one they opened their eyes. These eyes were not flat, and were certainly not impressions as not light reflection could mimic a optic so well. Fully developed round juicy blood shot eyes and in some instances more than were appropriate.

Shuddering I’d of screamed if not for a fit of extreme dehydration. Although my parched throat could be accounted for by the photography lamps, I can’t help but feel as though something else was responsible for draining me of my natural fluids. I smashed down the objects placed before the lights in a frenzy to stop this surreal metamorphosis. Breaking to lamps and turning off the others I sat in pitch darkness uncomfortable afraid. The images had vanished but I was still quivering though I had no trouble recollecting the sight of their eyes. I added them to the ink drawings while alone in the blackness fearing both the stark night and even more the cast shadows which would soon return with the rising sun.

MORE SURREAL STORIES?

ALTERNATIVE COMICS Technological Dependencies

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics

Forced out of the studio by the suffocating humidity as part of my regular practice I retreated this afternoon in work the park. Most days this ritual proves more than satisfying as well as productive as I pass a few hours with my sketchpad and a book. I consider myself quite fortunate to have such an opportunity as a freelance illustrator with no particular schedule and truly enjoy passing the hot summer days leisurely doodling and researching in a shady quiet corner sprawled across the Kensington grass. Of course this limit’s my capabilities to develop any of my finer ink drawings or anything the computer centric animation but I fret very little as the time proves rather healthy. The fresh outdoor air relieve me from the flickering screen and the light table as well as the endlessly repetitive hours of typing and uploads. In fact it would appear that by stepping away from the technologies my mind retains a fresh human inspiration permitted me to accomplish more in the long run avoiding any frustrations or mechanized burn out. I highly recommend that you to shut off the power once in a while to let bugs crawl all over you while you read a real book ( that is one printed on paper).

Obviously the park is not without interruptions but the occasional skirmish, unwanted social activity or show boating is far less common than the beautiful silence and breeze under a tree. The silence too is not wholly impenetrable but the truth is that I actually enjoy the sound of the acoustic guitars and the occasional banjo. However I have encountered an increasingly aggravating trend which often passes as music but comes from no instrument. It is a little clicking and clacking muffled by a static buzz and it has perpetually grown and haunted my life. I tried to ignore in and at first assumed that my ears were out of sorts, possibly as a result of my years working the loud metropolis as a professional street artist. But alas as the buzzing and multiple clicks insisted on invasion I soon identified the sounds. They were activated by people and playing out of small phones as I finally correlated the noise to certain bobbing movements among small packs of pot smokers.

The static obscenities, which sound like nothing more, were apparently on purpose and as I have been informed, entitled electronic music whatever that is. Never mind my criticism though I am not here to discuss taste nor talent for what truly bothered me was the fact that these devices were being used in the park. Maybe it is music after all few people can endure the Stravinsky or Miles Davis that I’ve come on to depend but from a safe distance the sounds sound a lot like the city, an endless distortion and conglomeration of noise. I’ve been hearing a lot of phones lately but this afternoon was the worst.

There were at least three of these devices crackling from varied directions when as though to add insult to injury a new sound joined the party. Pulling up right beside me a car slowed to a park and the driver got out of the vehicle leaving his door open and radio on. He actually laid down in the grass with his bass hideously blaring and started to read the paper though I do not know how. Shortly thereafter a large tour bus pulled in and decided to idle. The vehicle easily two-thirds the length of the small park just kept vrooming and vrooming. The driver of this vehicle also got out and sat down to enjoy a cigarette in the now volumous park. Three phones playing static clicks, a car with popular music and a perpetually revving giant noise and pollution machine had me surrounded and had I not a coffee and some food to finish I’d have already left.

Then to my dismay as I forced down my hot drink another addition to the line of inconsideration. Some ---- brought in his electric guitar plugged in a bunch of laser beam effects and cranked out a programmed beat. Not only was he loud enough to be heard above all the rest but he was completely incoherent by any standard of song. I don’t favour speed death metal but I can understand it. This player however couldn’t even make the scene in a Japanese experimental noise band for the deaf ( just for the record I know deaf people actually do enjoy music by grooving on the vibrations but the analogy works well).

So there I was burning my mouth on the coffee while laughing to myself at the entire absurdity and even more so at the anger telephone owners who couldn’t enjoy there buzzing noises any more. Though not a single one of them relinquished there sonic projections and the fun just kept coming. Now if you think all sounds crazy you’ll scarcely believe what happened next. A couple sat down beside me gossiping aloud about some magazines, reviews and photo shoots when out of nowhere they produced a small screen. They turned on the laptop and video screen and started to watch a reel of commercials while laughing hysterically. COMMERCIALS! Not a show or a concert or even a moving but one after another they entertained themselves boisterously watching commercials!!!

Phone playing music, a car blasting beats, a huge bus running it’s engines, and a television playing commercials all at the same time while I was sitting in the park. Sitting in the park on a hot Friday afternoon eating my lunch under the trees, drawing reading and watching the birds no more. With not other choice but to find a quieter place upon which to rest I walked into the middle of the city, down Spadina avenue and sat under the Gardiner Expressway. Noting there were no devices nor people nor ads, I fell peacefully asleep hoping, if only just a little, never to waken again.

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

Alternative Comics SEEDS

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics

 While travelling the world in search of undiscovered sciences and new devices the young marketing master named Phillip Straus happened upon many strange things. He'd found unexplored medicinal treatments, music and meditations but was perpetually denied patents and funding from his office back home. The primary dissolution for all of his finds lay in the fact that synthetic, yet often placebo, replications were already being sold. Phillip was not one to give up easily and having his expenses covered, gladly continued his quest without dismay. It was in a small peaceful jungle village in the northern region of Africa that he finally encountered the most incredible product.

The village Shaman welcomed Phillip and told him of many incredible things. In particular the researcher took interest in the witch doctor’s stories about certain wondrous seeds. The seeds had frequently proved amazingly useful aiding his tribe and their lands in ways never before seen. These magic seeds, as Phillip was informed, could grow very rapidly and assume human shapes. The unusual vegetations would then adopt characteristics of tribes-people and assist in the chores, regularly taking part in the Shaman's expeditions and the community harvest. The plant-people were kind offering their services happily while asking only for water and a restful place in the sun. The Shaman stated clearly that, though it was not truly necessary, he'd always freed the creatures in the jungle after they'd participated in three tasks.

Having doubts to the claims but assured the medicine man was not intentionally lying, Phillip offered a large sum of money for the seeds but received only joyously playful laughter from the chief. "You may take what you like, they are not mine to trade and besides no foreigner has ever visited us before. We know little of the outside world but much of it's suffering so I am happy to send our fantastic treasure abroad." Ever the business man Phillip happily agreed while sending a considerable receipt back to the office which he had cashed and kept for himself.

Before leaving Phillip, with feint humbleness, requested a demonstration in order to make sure he'd not lose face back at the corporation. The Shaman simply pulled back a few bushes revealing the odd scene. There stood several organic compositions all standing tall with appendages sowing a small field. The absurdly monstrous plant-beings turned briefly to wave greetings and share what one could only surmise as great smiles although they'd no normal mouths any comedian or botanist could possibly recognize. Satisfied Phillip secured his treasures and set off on his long journey back to the City of Gears.

Upon arriving at the sky-scraping castle headquarters of his business associates, Phillip entered the lobby with the air of a king. The elevator propelled him to the sixty-sixth floor where his colleagues awaited in tight suits around a traditionally enormous and elongated rectangular black marble desk. At the opening of his excited power point presentation the members of the board began to roll their dissatisfied eyes. Several mumbles in anger and jest rolled in both whispers and loudly across the open room. A comment reminiscent of Jack’s own reciprocation followed with insults regarding a magic beanstalk.

Had Phillip truly lost all of his wits under the pressures of success, travel and the hot African sun? As the chief executive reached forward to press the ominously red button , Phillip gestured grandly presenting his phone. “Fear not that I am mad for I have here in my hand the proof you desire!” He turned on the small video screen and showed his employers the brief live capture he’d gotten without the tribesmen’s knowledge. The video phone showed the strange plant beings working steadily in the tribe’s fields of that remote distant land. Though still not convinced, as computer graphics have progressed incredibly as of late, the footage stopped the security call and Phillip was permitted to continue his demonstration.

Phillip uprooted a small hibiscus decorating the west corner of the office and place a seed inside the vacated planter. He set the pot on the marble desktop and added a bottle of water while exclaiming that what he’d found was certain to change all the world. He proclaimed that he’d seen a single plant-being gracefully handle tasks normally requiring many men and that the vegetations asked little compensation for their highly skilled and organized work. “ These plants imitate human beings but do not complain, get stressed, strike, or tire nor do they continually dream of better things!” With this the end of his speech, Phillip stepped back in awe as the vegetation arose up out of the ceramic container.

The sight was marvellous as the tree grew instantly 6 feet taking on limbs, legs and torso not unlike man. The sudden twisting and shaping of muscles would have been hideous in a mammal but retained a serene beauty mesmerizing the audience. Then as quickly as the wonder began the creature stepped out of the soil and reached an extended vine hand grasping the chairman by throat. In a matter of seconds the room was disembowelled as the horrific plant-person attacked instantly smothering everyone insight. It grasped and suffocated each member with out remorse as it simultaneously and greedily engulfed all the other plants in the room. Phillip had managed to bolt for the door holding the rest of the seeds tightly in his right fist. His escape however was simply not meant to be and one might surmise he was only spared this long because of his threatening possession of the other seeds.

The plant had now grown multiple tendril like appendages and had proceeded to nearly out grow the sizable room. It swarmed all around Phillip blocking the exit. The indescribable yet obvious face of the foliage leaned in close to Phillip’s own snatching the other seeds before consuming it‘s brethren. Cornered the young businessman’s mind ran across a sentence spoken by the kind hearted witch doctor. “ The plants adopt the characteristics of the tribes people”. The tribes people were simple peace loving and quaint, but this monster was all devouring, seething, devious and mad. With his last breath Phillip glanced around at the remains of the boardroom and the faculty knowing all to well where the monster had learnt it’s new traits.                 

  

 

 

more SURREAL STORIES

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

ALTERNATIVE COMICS What lies beneath the brickwork ...

HEY APATHY! Alternative comics

A strange deviation lurks beyond the metropolis' shadows breeding and brooding in the darken alleys and sewers. Though still unassuming yet a certain times visible, these weird horned malformations reek of diabolic intent. A alchemic concoction constituently designed of a unique intermingling of the physical and intangible is slowly formulating a new race. The bacteria necessary for these creatures inception is common and harmless to those without contact. The rotting foods, wasted containers and used toxins normally found in all garbage when left to culture in dark and damp places contain the necessary fluids for the ensuing development of a most frightening enemy. However these fermented and macrobiotic organisms of decay are uselessly inanimate with out the inclusion of certain rituals and would likely only fester in unkempt corners and unfiltered sewer ways.

The rituals involved are on their own much more devious and as a rule cause great harm to any involved. Through any act of malicious aggression, violence or depravation the chemical environments may be well prepared for the birth. Following even the most miniscule of horrific occurrences the air and area of the location becomes stained. A telepathic residue changes the scene’s composure leaving unseen markings viable enough to incite change. In instances of extreme devastation the psychic residue may be so extreme as to force those who enter the premises unknowingly to re-enact the previous terrors despite clear and sane histories free from violence. The rituals do not require such escalated events to proceed as almost any act of hatred will suffice in the change.

It is the unique mixture of these, our excessive physical wastes and intrinsic motive and acts of cruelty, which have completed this new formula of probable destruction. As garbage is left unattended in the darkest corners of the city, so to do these corners nurture evil acts. From the most insidious crimes of man against man right down to terrible self inflicted and addictive injuries are seething through the un-trodden pathways, alleys and underground tunnels. Most of these atrocities have been ignored by the people and press while those which have been acknowledged have since been deemed social acceptable. Yet despite the mass denial and inexplicable justifications, the spell has been cast and a change will soon take place. The accumulative fervour of all these negative acts is breeding and brooding in the development of a new race. With horns on their heads they have been witnessed quite seldom but rest assured in unrest for an army of evil is growing behind the unlit brick work in the monsrous metropolis known as the City of Gears…  more at http://www.heyapathy-comics-at.com/