Cropped Will Cardini artwork

October 12, 2010

Review of Hypermorph on The Great God Pan Is Dead

Robert Boyd reviewed my show Hypermorph at Domy Books Houston on his blog The Great God Pan Is Dead. I appreciate his thoughtful review, you can read it here.

In his review, Boyd quotes my description of the Hyperverse from the press release and then says that his “first reaction to this is that it seems pretty dumb.” Ha! I can dig that. Boyd goes on to say that, what makes my approach to genre dumb is that, unlike the Fort Thunder artists that I am (all-too clearly, I know) influenced by, my work lacks does not take genre ironically or satirically. Well, that’s true. I definitely take genre, even the most ridiculous parts of it, extremely seriously. If you want me to get all metaphorical on you, I feel like I do live in, to quote my description of the Hyperverse, “a realm filled with immensely powerful inhuman beings who battle over worlds with strange geologies and hoard advanced technologies” where “mountains shift from molten to crystal between moments and clumps of rock are inhabited by malevolent intelligences ready to hurl face-melting spells,” a cosmos of constant flux, “of constant magical warfare.”

I mean, look at these photos by Edward Burtynsky:

I’m just reflecting the world as I see it.

And I have a response to Boyd’s final question:

So, if creating boyish sci-fi worlds is an aspect of the whole Fort Thunder aesthetic, can we say that aesthetic is inherently male? And if we accept that, is there a female counterpart? And if so, are plush frog heads a part of it?

I definitely wanted Glade to be a part of my show. I’m well aware of how much of a “boy’s club” all of the collectives that I am a part of (Totally Wreck, The Gold County Paper Mill) slash admire (Okaymountain, Fort Thunder), with some exceptions, are, and it’s something that I don’t like about them. All I can say is, I am going to make sure that my first long-form comics narrative passes the Bechdel Test.

September 28, 2010

Hypermorph Opening

Filed under: Recaps — Tags: , , — Will Cardini @ 7:38 am

The opening of my show Hypermorph went splendidly, thanks to everyone who came out!

Here are some shots of the event, taken by my dad:


left to right: Michael Miles, me, my brother Peter Hensel


left to right: Glade Whitworth, Meg Mata, Karen Cassidy, Chase, some d00d, me, my mom Carol Hensel

The show closes on Oct 21st, so you still have about four weeks to go see it. If you need some enticing, check out this write up in the Houston Press (and yes, it’s true, I was working on my show until the last minute). I’ll post more pics once the show closes.

September 24, 2010

Hypermorph Opens this Saturday at Domy Houston, 7-9pm

Filed under: Events — Tags: , , , — Will Cardini @ 7:43 am

Look into the eyes of the Miizzzard:

Hypermorph, new work by William Cardini, opens 9/25 from 7-9pm at Domy Books Houston

Here’s the official invite for my opening:

Hypermorph, new work by William Cardini, opens 9/25 from 7-9pm at Domy Books Houston

I hope to see y’all there!

June 1, 2010

In Science, the Lion Sleeps with the Lamb

It’s been a bit quiet around here, I’ve been busy. I drew comics for Smoke Signal #5 and Taffy Hips #8, of course I’ll let y’all know if my drawz make it in any of those fine publications. In the meantime, if you want to see some awwwrt, come by Big Medium (5305 Bolm Road #12, Austin, TX, 78721) this Saturday (6/5/10) from 8 to 11 pm to see Totally Wreck‘s newest show, In Science, the Lion Sleeps with the Lamb.

This show is being put on by Big Medium in conjunction with MASS Gallery.

April 20, 2010

SHAMAN THUNDER Reviewed at Optical Sloth and on Sale at Forbidden Planet and Domy Austin

Josh Burggraf and I’s comic SHAMAN THUNDER was just reviewed over at Optical Sloth, here’s a snippet:

Sometimes it’s tough to say who would enjoy a particular mini and who wouldn’t, but this one is easy. If you’re enough of a dork to want to see a thoroughly ridiculous though oddly realistic fight between two shamans, it’s never been done better to my knowledge. If you consider yourself above such things, lucky for you there are many other mini comics in the world for you to choose from.
Review

And while you’re over at Optical Sloth checking out the rest of that review, be sure to contribute to Bramer’s fundraiser to go to SPACE and check out his interesting online comic rental store idea.

Our comic is one sale over at Forbidden Planet, at Domy Books in Austin, or you can buy it from us, leave a comment or send me a message.

April 13, 2010

MoCCA 2010 Recap

Filed under: Recaps — Tags: , , , , , — Will Cardini @ 7:37 pm

MoCCA was a blast this year, as always. I got a tonnnnn of awesome-looking minicomics, newsprint comic anthologies, and other books. I was glad that it was in April this year rather than June – NYC in June is too much like Austin in June, but NYC in April is a nice cool break from the high temperatures that are already here in Texas.

The only panel that I went to was Frank Santoro and Dash Shaw in Conversation. They talked mainly about color in comics, and how it differs from color in a painting. Frank talked about how he puts together a page of Cold Heat, which was fascinating. He really made me see how offset comics are a form of printmaking just like serigraphy. I came away with a lot of good ideas for my next project, which you’ll hear more about later…

While I was in NYC I finally got to meet my collaborator Josh Burggraf in person. I chilled with him at the Supertalk Comix table (where we had copies of SHAMAN THUNDER for sale), met the Supertalk d00dz and drew this jam comic:


Panel One: Josh, Panel Two: Me, Panel Three: Victor Kerlow, Panel Four: Josh, Panel Five: Jeremy Povolny, Panel Six: Me

On Sunday I went to the MOMA, where there’s a William Kentridge show up. He always makes me want to buckle down and get some animation done. I’d seen his angrier videos before but I also saw some that were more mournful and beautiful, as well as some amazing playful ones that reminded me of early cinema.

I didn’t end up unloading all of my copies of SHAMAN THUNDER so if you want one let me know. We’re selling them for two dollars.

March 26, 2010

WITCH ATTACKS Screenprints for Sale

As I’ve mentioned, the incredibly talented Rand Renfrow made some dope-ass three-color screenprints of my one-page comic Witch ATTACKS (previously featured on Reynard Seifert’s site hahaclever). Look at these things, they’re perfect, it looks like a machine made them:

If you’re interested in owning one of these limited edition bad boys, they’re on sale at Domy here in Austin or you can just buy one from me. Leave a comment or send an email to [RE DAC TED] at g mail dot com.

Also, check out this video interview that the League of Extremely Ordinary Gentlemen d00dz did of me and Glade at STAPLE! alongside a bunch of other talented exhibitors. We’re the first ones in this video and there are four more that you can check out if you want to see who all was at STAPLE!:

Because I didn’t give him a shout out in the video, props to Robert Bozwell, fellow member of the GCPM, for the work that he did designing the Catch Up website!

March 23, 2010

SXSW Recap

This past week was South by Southwest here in Austin which is always hectic.

I didn’t do too much, just hung out at various spots on the east side. I went to Domy Books for 20 Zines in 2 Days, put on by my buddy Rand Renfrow of Test Everything and the folks at Winners! Press. Unfortunately (for me) it was so crowded that I never got a chance to draw, but I did get to check out Katy Horan’s awesome art show there.

I also went to Okaymountain. In the main room they had a totally dope show called Temple of Booom, a collaborative installation by the artist-run alternative space Cinders Gallery that will be open til April 17th. Then, in the project space, they had drawings by a group of dope-ass artists from Lawrence, KS who call themselves the Asteroid Head Art Club. They were all wearing maroon Asteroid Head jumpsuits with wigs and tiny little flags, here’s a pic of me posing with one of ’em:


via

The bands at Okaymountain were the best that I heard all South By (not that I heard that many):

  • Silent Diane, an electro/new wave band from Austin who just put out a marbled blue 7″
  • White Mice, a noise band from Providence who wear crazy mice costumes emblazoned with Satanist slogans and play cymbals topped with saw blades
  • Chica Vas, a seventeen-piece all-woman, mostly percussion band from Austin, Brooklyn, and Osaka who got the whole room dancing on Saturday nite
  • These Are Powers, a kewl electronic band from Brooklyn

March 19, 2010

20 Zines in 2 Days

Filed under: Events — Tags: , , , , — Will Cardini @ 5:13 pm

My buddy Rand is helping to put on this awesome event this weekend here in Austin (which I just realized is already halfway over as I post this):

ATTEND ATTEND ATTEND

Winners! Press and Test Everything have teamed up to present 20 Zines In 2 Days! Join us as we attempt this whirlwind feat of making 20 completely different zines containing drawings, photos and collage in two short days during Domy’s WHAT BY WHAT-EVER.

All content will be created on-site and all the zine themes will be determined by submissions. Anyone can submit an idea. Just send an email to: info@winnerspress.com with your name and idea for a theme.

Everyone is welcome to collaborate and all participants will be featured in at least one editioned, handmade zine!

SUBMIT SUBMIT SUBMIT

March 12, 2010

Awthum Fetht V

The past week and a half I haven’t been doing any comic pages. Instead I’ve been working on different versions of a flyer/poster for Awthum Fetht V, which will be next week here in Austin.

Here’s the internet flyer:

Here’s the 11 x 17 color poster, with a full list of all the bands:

They might have some prints of this poster for the first few people who get in the door.

I’m available to do flyers and other promotional materials for bands or shows. If you’re interested, just leave a comment or send me a message at mark p hensel at g mail dot com (no spaces).