Category: CBK

CRACK! 2019 + some recent stuff

I’m soon going on vacation, this weird concept that you get when you have employment, where you spend some time not working at all. Employment is rare for me, so it still feels like some kind of novelty. And it won’t be completely without work since we have a CBA release/exhibition on July19 (work being defined as when you do things with a purpose other than pleasure/relaxation, not to be confused with employment where you also get paid).

So I thought I should make some small summation of what I’ve beem doing lately. I should say ‘we’ rather than ‘I’ since most of what I do is done in the context of one or more of the collectives I’m part of within the Hybriden constellation…

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Let’s start at the chronological end, with this year’s CRACK! festival (June 20-23) where I was with Kinga Dukaj and Luddvig Melin to represent AltCom/Hybriden/Wormgod/CBK/Tusen Serier and ourselves as artists. If you don’t know, this is one that I’ve been going to every year for the last decade or so, except last year. Which was probably good, because this time it felt better than it has for a while. Less people than usual, but I got some of that magic back, where you meet new people who do interesting stuff, old friends that you only see once or a few times a year (depending on which festivals you go to) who also do interesting stuff, you see lots of cool art, you make some yourself, you’re in this small piece of a possible future/squat paradise on earth called Forte Prenestino to share in the evolution of the comics/printed art underground. It’s a source of inspiration for AltCom and for a lot of what I do and how I do it.

Idyllic breakfast with background reminder…

Our cell:

The theme for this year was APERTO (OPEN), similar to the NO BORDERS theme of AltCom 2012, so that fit us well considering what we’re usually publishing.

One of our neighboring cells

On June 22 there was also a huge demonstration against evictions of squats as well as against raised rents in general. CRACK! has a natural connection to this since Forte Prenestino is a squat since 1986. I didn’t go to the demo myself because I can’t handle being out in the Italian heat for that long, but rumor says it was a manifestation of around 100 000 people.

I was asked to make a sticker or something for the demo, but I found this and couldn’t imagine doing it any better.

I also have to say, without going into details, that the crisis management from the festival organizers is very commendable. They managed to turn an incident into an assembly of around a hundred artists to discuss what had happened. In the end some people disrupted the meeting and I’m not sure where they will go from where it ended, but I fully trust them to handle it in an intelligent way that is respectful to many different aspects of the whole situation.

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A while ago, we opened a new permanent exhibition at Hybriden, with works that have been produced at Fanzineverkstaden by its members and/or workshop participants. It was also, finally, the official release event for Fosfor, our zine distribution system.

The Lore exhibition is still up, with material related to the theme of the latest issue of CBA. The best bet if you still haven’t seen it is to go this week (Wed-Fri 11-15 + Sun 12-15). After that, Hybriden will close for the summer except for the opening of the Qtopia exhibition on July 19 (at Hybriden). As I write this, we’re actually in the final stages of finishing to files for CBA vol 45: Qtopia to send off to the printer.

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We’ll be back in August at Fanzineverkstaden, open weekdays between 15-21, with lots of new workshops coming up during the fall, so keep an eye open for that. And do use the place, because it’s a great opportunity to print stuff and try some new ways for self-publishing, and you never know how long it’ll last (except we know we’ll be here for at least another year). We also brought home some examples from CRACK! to use for inspiration.

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And speaking of things that are being printed as we speak… My contributions to the upcoming Wormgod book, After the ends of the world 2 by me and Susanne Johansson, have largely been produced at Fanzineverkstaden in between my regular working hours. More on that later, but here are a few of the pages from the book that I also showed as prints at CRACK!

LORE

Right now at Hybriden, CBK is showing the release exhibition for CBA vol 44: Lore.

I made a bunch of new works for it, inspired by some stories I heard as a child, and some I’ve heard later. Fairy tales and similar concepts that inspired me in one way or another.

You may recognise the symbol in the background from Berserk or Nameless or the upcoming Brightburn. I wish I could tell you its true origins, but… Also, if you haven’t seen The Witch, that’s maybe something you should think about doing?
Dhagdheer, a long-eared vampire(?) from a Somali folktale…

Yeah, I know, this last one doesn’t really fit into the whole fairytale theme, but what the hell. Dune was a great influence on me while growing up, and now when I’m rereading it I’m really enjoying it, so I think it fits anyway.

 

New stuff

To begin with, I tried Detroit: Become Human (PS4) last night and it feels new and exciting. So far, it’s more about storytelling than gameplay, but that’s fine and the story is interesting, and storytelling is usually my main interest in games anyway. So yeah, give it a try!

I also look forward to trying out the newly released Coolpaintr VR…

Right now, I’m at Fanzineverkstaden, making plans for when we open to the public, which will hapen soon…

The upcoming CBA vol 40|41: Worst Case Scenario is being prepared for the printer as I write this, and it’s going to be a great volume. Black/white to fit the theme, which it really does. I made a comic for it, called Why you (maybe) shouldn’t kill Hitler, a time travel story about a worst case scenario and about misconceptions about historical events.Here’s the cover by Kinga Dukaj:

Today (starting an hour ago), there’s an exhibition at Hybriden, featuring the comics students from Fridhems folkhögskola.

Next weekend (June 2), we’ll open the second part of the Best of CBK exhibition (also at Hybriden). So see you there, maybe, one of these days.

Speaking of exhibitions, right now I’m part of the exhibition Pow – Historier i kvadrat at Det gamla tryckeriet in Eskilstuna. My contribution is the artist book I made a while ago: A Subtle Fuck You 2: Antidote.

I would have liked to make something new for the next volume of CBA as well: CBA vol 42: Subversive Superhero Stories, but I doubt I’ll have the time for it, so I’ll probably just write a text I’ve been wanting to do, and if I participate with a comic, it’ll be something old but relevant.

Also planning to make a short ranting comic för the AltCom 2018: HOW TO SURVIVE A DICTATORSHIP anthology. Probably an Angry Animal story, which I haven’t done for some time now. They don’t take me a lot of time and I think it’ll fit the theme.

This is an old one, used in the exhibition MUS, MOUSE, MAUS, shown at the Holocaust Museum in Paris a bunch of years ago, and possibly in other places after that (Click for bigger version)…

In general, the political climate in Sweden is rapidly deteriorating it seems, since it’s an election year and all the big parties compete in who can be the best at copying the neonationalists to prevent them from getting too strong. With the result, obviously, that the neonationalist part gets stronger and can push their politics even further. Now they’re even talking about throwing out people who are already Swedish citizens on the grounds that they or their parents weren’t born here (most of my closest friends) or that they don’t have the “correct” Swedish values (me and most of the people I know, I assume). No one will be safe unless something turns around soon.

I’m calling them neonationalists now because it seems that they’re in the forefront of a new(ish) nationalist movement. They could also be called “neofascists” or “racist” or “islamophobic rightwing” or “kind of normal party but with lots of nazis in their not-so-distant past”. But those words seem to make people uncomfortable, so I’ll stick with “neonationalist”, at least for this blogpost..

 

New blood for CBK

CBK needs new people:

Vi behöver dig i CBK!

(Sorry for the Swedish, by the way, it’s because this is more of a local concern. In short, we’re looking for new crew members for CBK…)

Du som brinner för serier och vill se mediet utvecklas. Du som vill vara med och ge ut snygga nyskapande serier som gör intressanta saker med historieberättande i serieform. Du som är intresserad av att tillsammans med en grupp andra serieskapare ge ut en tidning, arrangera utställningar och jobba med annat som har med förlagsarbete att göra. Du som vill ha ett utrymme att också ge ut dina egna serier som del av en antologi, i ett sammanhang där nybörjare delar utrymme med tunga namn inom internationella alternativ- och undergroundserier.

Du får gärna kunna InDesign, Photoshop etc. Du får gärna vara bra på att jobba med marknadsföring, distribution osv.

Du bör ha förmågan och tycka det är kul att se sammanhang och hur saker hänger ihop i processen att göra och ge ut en tidning, arrangera utställningar, driva en lokal som ställer ut och säljer serier, med allt vad det innebär (du behöver inte ha full koll från start, tycker du det är intressant i grunden så kommer du att lära dig).

Det finns i nuläget inga pengar till ersättning, så du bör vara engagerad och intresserad av att vara med av andra anledningar än att tjäna pengar. CBK och CBA har alltid gjorts med ideella krafter när det gäller både serieskapare och redaktion, på gott och ont, och det ser ut att fortsätta så ett tag till.

Är du intresserad?
Kontakta oss så styr vi upp ett möte!

Best of CBK

Retrospective exhibition of 15 years with CBK
Place: Hybriden (Mitt Möllan, Bangatan 5, Malmö)
Opening: April 13, 17-22
Lasts until: August 16

C’est Bon Kultur (CBK) became an official association in 2003, with the formal purpose of creating and promoting comics that are visually interesting and that approach comics storytelling in experimental ways. It is now 15 years later and with approximately 60 publications and about as many exhibitions behind us, we have a big selection of comics and artworks in storage that we’d like to share with the world.

Nostalgia for some, news to others, we promise an interesting art experience. Big names in experimental and art comics will share the space with local talents and several generations of the CBA editorial crew. Over the years, we’ve strived to add something special in the translation from the comics page to the exhibition wall space. From acetone prints to apocalyptic scrap metal installations with DIY polaroids, blown-up postcards and blood-splattered plastic covers. One motto that runs through it all is: COMICS AS ART, ART AS COMICS.

Feel free to invite people to the Facebook event.

The exhibition is presented by CBK in cooperation with Fanzineverkstaden, with support from Malmö Kulturnämnd.

Another call for submissions: CBA vol 41

There are lots of calls for submissions circulating these days. Here’s another one:

CBA vol 41: Subversive Superhero Stories

For many years now, CBK has acted to expand as well as to introduce art comics to the world. Everything from Hair to Fragments has been the focus, and for our next volume, we are focusing on one of the biggest genres in comic books, the superhero comics. We’re looking for comics with an explicit connection to the Superhero genre, that at the same time subverts the expectations and pushes the boundaries to tell a different story than the conventional stories usually told.

Deadline: JUNE 1
Main editor: Henrik Rogowski

See the original CBK blogpost for guidelines (format, files etc).

Art by Henrik Rogowski

Also don’t forget to send stuff to the other anthologies as well:
CBA vol 40: Worst Case Scenario
AltCom 2018: HOW TO SURVIVE A DICTATORSHIP anthology

I have a plan for a Worst case scenario story. I have half an idea for the AltCom one and I really hope I’ll be able to do a Subversive Superhero Story a well, but I may end up just writing an article for that one, depending on how some other stuff turn out and how much time there’ll be left for me to do it…

 

FRAGMENTS exhibition

Welcome to the opening of the exhibition FRAGMENTS, which is also the release of the brand new CBA vol 38|39, both of which feature comics by me.

Feb 9, 17-22
@ HYBRIDEN (Mitt Möllan, Bangatan 5)

The past can be found in the form of small parts inside your body. Some parts are impossible to get rid of. Maybe they’re important, maybe they’re not. But they do exist for a reason. What is your reason?
Even though your past time is out of reach, there is always the possibility of deciding how it will look in front of other people. What would your fragments look like if you showed them in public?

CBA vol 38|39 cover by Christina Cromnow

The exhibition will showcase fragments of the comics from the new issue, and there is also an interactive element. Join us by drawing your own memories on the wall during the exhibition opening.

We have crayons!

Christina Cromnow, the main editor of vol 38|39, says about the theme:
“I’m remembering my own life in fragments. There are only pieces left of my past time. But what interests me is just that, WHICH pieces are the ones remaining? And why? And what story does all of this tell? The simple story should be that whatever’s left are the moments that made an impression. It doesn’t matter if it’s nonsense or vitality. It’s there because it influenced me somehow.”

Artists featured with fragments in the exhibition: Marie Jacotey-Voyatzis, Victor Expolio, Mattias Elftorp, Martin López Lam, Anna Krztoń, Diego Shim, Stefan Petrini, Hanna Lundin Tistelö, Insulina Kid, Rakel Stammer, Henrik Rogowski, Gonzalo de las Heras, Johanna Rojola, Kinga Dukaj

As usual, there will be some snacks, wine and non-alcoholic alternatives.

The exhibition lasts until April 11 and is organised with support from Malmö Kulturstöd.

Call for submissions: CBA vol 40!

We want comics and texts for
CBA vol 40 – Worst Case Scenario
What’s the worst that could happen? And if that happens, what’s the worst that could happen? And if that happens, what’s the worst that could happen? And so on…

There’s a psychiatric method in cognitive behavioral therapy called “The Downward Arrow Technique” where you begin by writing down the answers to this repeated question and we thought it’d be the perfect theme for our upcoming CBA vol 40. Especially since this is an election year in Sweden. Especially since war and famine and climate change and personal disasters are on the horizon. So how bad can it get?

Deadline: APRIL 15
Main editor: Kinga Dukaj
(More details below…)

Think of a scenario where you imagine the absolute worst thing that could happen.
When you have that in mind, ask: if that happens, whats the worst that could happen?
When you have that answer continue asking it about 3 more times until you’ve got a clear story.
Use this as a script for your comic.

Editors note: The goal in the Downward Arrow Technique is to explore your core beliefs and work through them, and is often used for anxiety, phobias and other disruptive thought patterns. This method is very practical, simple and effective in helping the person get to the root of their negative thoughts and unhealthy beliefs about themselves. However, this is not the goal in CBA vol 40. We just want to know the worst.

Please read and follow these guidelines:
Number of pages: We prefer comics that are about 5-30 pages, but any number is welcome.
Format: 20x26cm
Color scheme: Black and white
Language: English
Format: .TIF
Resolution: 1200 dpi line art or 300 dpi grayscale
Bleed: 5mm. Think you know how to handle bleed? Read THIS to make sure you know what we mean.
Within this space, there are no limits.

Please send us high-resolution files from the start.
Also include a short presentation text about yourself, with one URL (if you have a website).
Please ask us if you are unsure about formats, resolution, bleed, etc. We prefer stupid questions to bad files. And there are no stupid questions!

Unfortunately we cannot offer you any payment for participating. If we publish your submission you will receive 10 free copies of the issue. That’s all we can offer at this date. Hopefully you will find being in CBA an enjoyable experience. Naturally, copyright for your material will stay in your hands.

—TEXT GUIDELINES—
We’re looking for texts that touch upon the subject, preferably articles, essays and exploratory texts. We’re not looking for short stories for this issue.

Feel free tp share the Facebook event to anyone who might be interested!

You can read a longer version of this post HERE.

Also coming soon: Call for submissions for the AltCom 2018 anthology: HOW TO SURVIVE A DICTATORSHIP