Like a bunch of zombies, in torn work clothes, the AltCom festival is moving forward…
We just got some more money confirmed, so we know that the anthology will happen again this year, and also some other things that wren’t ready to disclose just now.
See the AltCom festival website for news as we drag ourselves forward…
Reposted from the AltCom website:
Time to announce the festival anthology of 2016:
We don’t have all the funding secured yet, but there’s a Kickstarter, so let’s assume that everything will be fine and open this call for submissions anyway!
The theme for this year is WORK, and we would like you to give us your stories interpreting that theme.
WHAT we want:
Pages: 1-5, black/white
Language: English
Format: 140x182mm (a little bit smaller than A5) +5mm bleed on all sides
Files: High-resolution .TIFF, preferably
If you are unsure what we mean by “high-resolution”, please ask. Not sure what we mean by “bleed”? Read this! Lots of artists don’t know, and it’s better to ask than to send us files that we can’t use.
WHEN we want it:
Deadline: May 15
Send questions and submissions to: submissions [at] altcomfestival [dot] se
Please feel free to invite more comics artists to the Facebook event.
WHO we are:
The AltCom 2016 anthology will be edited by the Hybrid of CBK & Tusen Serier.
As usual, no one gets paid for participating. But on the other hand, no one pays for it either since we’ll be giving the book away for free during and after the festival!
And yes, we do accept comics that have already been published elsewhere, as long as we like them and they fit into the theme.
As we have seen in The Troll. memories work both backwards and forwards in what we usually see as the linear flow of time.
They’re not always exactly corresponding to what actually happens when it actually happens, so bear that in mind when reading these recollections from the future:
SPACE
CBK and Tusen Serier will move into a new space together at Mitt Möllan. It will work as a combined exhibition space and studio, with the possibility for workshops and a store for buying our books, as well as stuff from Wormgod, Ritualen and others that are connected to CBK or Tusen Serier in some way.
BOOKS
Personally, I really really want to get started on the next Piracy is Liberation book. I also have ideas for The Troll 2, but I promised myself I would make another Piracy book first. It’s been far too long…
I wrote the script for a book that is now being drawn by Shko Askari, to be published by Tusen Serier pretty soon, I hope. I have a preliminary title for it, but I’m trying to think of a better one, so I won’t tell you what it is.
I didn’t manage to make the Transgressions 2 book last year, which would have a soundtrack by Brazilian band Anarcho Vomit Noise, but with any luck that could also happen this year.
PUBLISHING
Apart from the Askari book, there are several more books planned from Tusen Serier. Here are a few of them:
Myling by Amanda Casanellas & Yossra El Said:
Five stories about prostituters by Amalia Alvarez:
Void by Susanne Johansson (published as a collaboration between Wormgod & Tusen Serier):
Mapuche – Jordens folk by Jorge Varilla
From CBK, CBA vol 30 already came from the printer but hasn’t been officially released yet, so that will happen when we get the new space up and running:
This is actually the last issue from last year, so there will be 4 more in 2016. But more on those later. We’re right now in the process of finishing the selection for vol 32, which has been a far more complicated process that expected, then there’s a graphic novel issue by Julia Scott (some time around May) and two more anthology issues before the year is over. We’re right now preparing the call for submissions for those books.
I will be the main editor of vol 37, but that’s not until 2018. No hurry…
EXHIBITIONS
The Troll exhibition is still up at the old Tusen Serier place, but it’s not really open for the public any longer…
We also have some other stuff planned for the new place, but it’s all very vague so far, so I can’t say any more about it yet…
I’ve been asked to have an exhibition at the comics centre in Oulu in August. That’s gonna be fun, especially if I’ll be able to go there to see it myself. Tommi Musturi will have an exhibition there at the same time, so that could turn out really nice.
FESTIVALS
So the AltCom festival will happen in August, after all (for a while we thought we would have no budget for it at all, but then we got some so now everything is ok). We will try to figure out the last details in the coming few months, and then there will be some kind of announcement about it.
Not sure yet which other festivals I’m going to, but here’s a preliminary plan for the tour of 2016:
Uppsala Comix
Fumetto
SIS
CRACK!
Helsinki
Novo Doba
Maybe also Å-fest and possibly something else. It all depends on funding, mostly. Anyway, see you there, hopefully!
MORE
Oh, and did I mention that I am currently unemployed? Luckily, there should be no problem with the unemployment insurance, so it’s ok, but I will need to spend some time looking for new paid jobs. Some of the above will come with some money, but most of it is pure creativity and lack of self-preservation skills.
As you may have noticed, I didn’t include any links here, so for more information you can go to www.elftorp.com and find your way to most of what I’ve mentioned here.
Anyway. The future is coming towards us and not all of it is bright. As usual. So let’s just do our best and I’ll see you when it arrives.
The Tusen Serier/Sverok wall/jam comics exhibition that’s been going on this week will be finished today, which we will celebrate with alcohol, of course. We have three jam comics going on the walls, and yesterday we made some connections between the different stories, so they will all be concluded today in a SUPER RAVE PARTY OF DEATH. Literally (or at least in some kind of literal form).
We start at 16 and go on until 22-ish, depending on when we run out of wine…
In other news:
As you may know, I’ve been organizing the AltCom festival (website will soon be updated) for the Swedish Comics Association since 2010. The next edition, however, will be run by CBK in cooperation with Tusen Serier. I will still be the main organizer, but it still feels new and exciting.
And speaking of Tusen Serier, it just completed the transition from a project run by the Comics Association into an organization in its own rights. Which also feels great!
And one last item. A new book from CBK is nearing completion: Creation of a god / Att skapa en gud by Henrik Möller & Lars Krantz, based on a short story by Richard Stanley. Here’s the first official preview of the cover:
Ok, so here’s the deal.
Current comics projects:
I was going to get started on Piracy is Liberation v03 this fall, but right now I don’t see it happening. I also had to postpone the Transgressions 2 project I was planning to get started with Brazilian noise band Anarcho Vomit Noise. But I finished The Troll, and when the publisher gets hold of some 3D glasses it’s going to get a proper release somehow. I also have to make the Swedish translation of it as soon as I get some five spare minutes…
First, some short stories. I told you before about Viral that I made for CBA vol 30. I’m also mentally sketching a cover illustration for that issue, together with Kinga Dukaj. I’ve also written a script for something that is currently called Immunology, intended for the Oulu comics festival horror comics competition, whose deadline is approaching. It’s probably going to end up in CBA sooner or later as well. And I have a script for another troll story, but a different kind, for the upcoming Novo Doba festival anthology. Working title: These fucked up things they are doing to us.
Oh, and I’m supposed to make a lino cut contribution to Éric Ferrier’s new zine. Deadline sometime in August, of course. Maybe I’ll do it this weekend…
Spell casting:
A few years ago, I decided that things got more interesting if I view application-writing as casting spells. Because it is a bit like magic. You formulate a spell, you offer it to the gods/spirits/institutions in a kind of ritual that may include going to the post office or completing certain steps online, and then, if these higher powers decide to smile upon you, you get the money you ask for. And then you have to work for it, sacrificing your time and creativity, putting their power sigils/logos on whatever you produce within the boundaries of the spell.
So this is also something I’m going to be doing for a while now. Projects that need financing:
– AltCom 2016: WORK (this time organized by CBK & Tusen Serier)
– Tusen Serier (which was just transformed from a project under the Swedish Comics Association into its own organization. Now we’re just waiting for our magic number that will give us access to new sorts of magic).
– CBK (luckily I’m not responsible for writing these. Mine is more a consulting role. But still, deadline approaching…)
CBK:
So I just finished putting together the new issue of CBA (vol 29), which is a solo issue called What we knew, by Sarah Kläpp. With any luck, we’ll have it in time for the Helsinki festival…
And we’re in the process of making comics for CBA vol 30. Well, the others are. I’ve been done for ages. Luckily.
And some submissions have already come in for CBA vol 32. It’s always a joy to see all the nice comics people are sending to us.
And I hear that Mari Ahokoivu is preparing the material for he solo issue (vol 31).
All of these releases are supposed to result in exhibitions sooner or later.
We just need to sort out the mess that the former editorial crew left behind. A mess that may pose a big problem for us new people. Long story. We’ll sort it out somehow.
Edit: And yes, on top of all this, I’m also going to put togehter another book for CBK: Creation of a god / Vallonden som byggde gud. Comics adaptation by Henrik Möller & Lars Krantz of a Richard Stanley (who made films like Hardware and Dust Devil) short story. My self preservation skills are at 0. I just can’t help myself…
Wormgod:
Not much happening here for the moment, which is probably saving my life right now, because:
Tusen Serier:
August 4-7: Nerd at Pride
We’ll be making a jam comic on the walls during this event. An interactive exhibition with some kind of LGBT/Sci Fi theme that we will figure out as we go along.
August 14: Tusen Stafettserier
Tusen Stafettserier, our jam comics project that we’ve been working on for the last year is now finished and the exhibition which started in Stockholm recently will now be shown in Malmö before going on to Sjöbo, Gothenburg and back to Stockholm again.
August 21: Sofie Hoff (guest exhibition)
We’re lending out the Tusen Serier place for a guest exhibition.
August 28-30: Helsinki sarjakuvafestivaali
Tusen Serier, CBK and Wormgod goes to the Helsinki comics festival! Which is always nice, especially since I haven’t been there for a while now.
September 5: Lillebrors fantastiska mardrömmar release/exhibition/performance
The official release of Lillebrors fantastiska mardrömmar!
September 12-13: Comic Con Malmö
Not sure how this will work out, but worth a try anyway. Tusen Serier & Wormgod at the first Comic Con in Malmö. They seem to base this more on the image of San Diego Comic Con that you see in popular culture rather than focusing on comics. We’ll see…
September 22-27: Novo Doba
Going to Serbia once more for the Novo Doba festival. Family reunion…
September 26: Some exhibition
I won’t be here for this one, but we’ll put some kind of exhibition together.
September 27: Amalia Alvarez at the Gothenburg book fair
Amalia Alvarez will represent Tusen Serier and talk about her new book about prostitutes. Another thing I won’t be here for…
So that’s it…
…for August and September. And after that there is still the issue of the After the ends of the world release party/mini noise festival that was supposed to have happened already, but the venue didn’t work out for different reasons (mainly construction work).
And we were going to show the 8. exhibition in Malmö, maybe in conjunction with a release event for The Troll (and of course for the 8. book). Whenever there is time.
Where is the time? Have you seen it?
Also, could you remind me of all the things I’ve forgotten in this description of what is filling my head right now, because I don’t know where they are or what they look like or what I was even talking about…
Anyway, see you around, somewhere.
Storage is a comic I made for the AltCom 2012 NO BORDERS anthology.
On page 3, you can see a deportee being strapped to a special chair that is used for transporting “difficult” persons by plane. People who, for some reason, do not want to be forcibly deported, even though the Swedish authorities have declared that it is correct, almost that it is done with the best interests for the person in mind. Because why would the Swedish authorities do something like that if it wasn’t the right thing to do?
Instructions: If you see someone being taken on the same plane as you against their will, stand up, make a fuss, etc. Get more people to do the same. The plane is not allowed to take off until everyone is seated, and the pilot has the final say. Several deportations have been stopped in this manner. This may give the person more time to appeal again and maybe even get residency. Also, they may not have to be drugged and wake up in another country where they may have no viable prospects for a decent life.
As for the comic, it was inspired by a passage from Fortets Murar, a report from various detentions centers (prisons for asylum seekers/refugees whose only crime was to try to stay within the wrong borders. In Sweden, they are called “storage”) in Europe.
Click images for bigger, more readable, versions:
Last chance to see the Tusen Serier: Myling exhibition will be on Friday (Dec 19, 17-22)!
Based on a short story by Amanda Casanellas, I’m one of nine artists who have made interpretations of parts of the story. This is my contribution:
A triptych of paintings made with a roller, which was just as fun to do as I had planned it to be.
Come on Friday to see them in real life!
Photo comic of the POSTAPOKALYPS!
Documentation in comics form; a journey through the postapocalypse, starring the gasmasked protagonist of the famous AltCom poster.
Go here for bigger, readable version.
The upcoming Tusen Serier exhibition Myling is one of three exhibitions taking place at the same time at Mitt Möllan (Claesgatan 8, Malmö) Nov 6 at 17-22:
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Tusen Serier: MYLING
The Myling is a child who has been murdered by its mother and buried secretly in the woods or beneath the floor boards. Stuck between two dimensions, not alive, but alive enough to fuel their little bodies to keep growing in their graves in an unnatural way. A way that is not of our world.
Amanda Casanellas has taken this mythological creature and brought it into a new postapocalyptic context in a short story that has now been illustrated for this exhibition by different comics artists.
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Yvan Alagbé & Amandine Boucher: MYSTERIES OF LOVE
Love, love, love. In every novel, every movie, every song. For sure, we know of many love stories, were they real or imagined. What about a history of love? Where to begin? Love is the start. Love is the end. Love is the way. Love is the mystery of live.
By Yvan Alagbé with Amandine Boucher of FREMOK.
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Chili Com Carnne: QCDA
WHAT DOES QCDA STAND FOR?
QUINTESSENTIAL COMICS FOR DOCTORS AND ACCOUNTANTS?
QUOTES FROM CATHOLIC DUCKS ON ACID?
QUICK COMICS FOR DOPEY ATHLETES?
QUEST FOR CRAZY DOCTOR AUTOPSY?
QUATRO CHAVALOS DO APOPCALIPSE?
WHO CARES!!! We are not looking for treasures or answers. Our efforts and wanderings may seem futile, purposeless, and even our flesh garments meaningless, but even without a battle or mission there is an incorporeal ambition in us. We know that nothing rises from rotten bodies.
QCDA is Giant/size/Comix/zine of Chili Com Carne that brings the Portuguese new breed of comic authors in the format of four dudes (Afonso Ferreira, André Pereira, Rudolfo and Zé Burnay) and four damsels (Amanda Baeza, Hetamoé, Sílvia Rodrigues and Sofia Neto). Their works are dazzled and confused in such a way that embody the contemporary “4 knights of aPOPcalipse”: Anorexia, Smart Shops, Hooliganism and Cancer.
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AltCom 2014 is organized by the Swedish Comics Association, with support from Malmö stad, Kulturrådet and Sparbanksstiftelsen Skåne, in cooperation with Folkets Park and C’est Bon Kultur. Projekct manager: Mattias Elftorp.
www.altcomfestival.se
www.serieframjandet.se
