In Conversation with NOU.
I have been seeing NOUâs work online and in her zines for a year or two now. Iâm always confronted and mystified by the drawings and comics. Last week, as I dwelled on what kind of material I wanted to bring to the âOur Comics, Ourselvesâ tumblr, I realized NOU might have some feedback on some of the thoughts and questions I was milling over. This is part of the conversation we had via email:
Lately, Iâve had a more difficult time reading comics where an author is trying to tell me who they are or convince me of an idea they have. Itâs not at all that I donât think words are useful in comics, but I think artists can also effectively represent their identities through abstract moments and through formal things even like the way someone draws shapes or uses colors, how fast or slow a sequence moves, or how authoritative or passive the use of line is. Thatâs why I thought of your comics because you donât seem to be spelling anything out to anyone- you offer something emotional. Iâm prescribing words for your work right now, I donât know what youâre trying to do, ha. I guess Iâve been thinking about the idea âshow, donât tellâ as being something to strive for personally, a good way to give a reader something real. (In a recent interview with Erik Nebel, they actually had an excellent answer about this about! Iâll be posting that shortly)
I agree! I donât actually like reading comics with lots of words nowadays, so I totally get that. Especially if youâre on Tumblr, I think a lot of people probably donât want to read giant blocks of text or a huge think piece somebody wrote about a book they read while going through their dashboard, unless they do and Iâm just too cynical haha.
I donât think youâre prescribing at all! That sounds pretty spot on to me, I am a big music person and something I really like about music is how easily emotions and atmosphere is communicated without having to spell it out verbally or include a pamphlet to explain the meaning of everything to people or smth. At a point, even if the song has lyrics, theyâre sort of irrelevant and the only thing that matters is the mood, how it makes you feel. I listen to music while I do EVERYTHING, so I can see that influencing how I present my storylines for sure. Not sure if Iâm doing this thought pattern of mine justice right now, Iâm not the best at explaining stuff.
Ah, I like that! I think creating an atmosphere can be the same thing as representing a complex attitude. Itâs not like, explaining any ideas - itâs a way others can feel your 'moodâ, yea, and just sit in your head without having to analyze.
Youâre involved in graffiti as well as comics, I imagine it can feel like juggling two identities⊠one requires you to be anonymous. It sounds really appealing to be secretive, but maybe it is also harder to share things and get feedback. Like have you ever been really excited about some art you put up on the street and wished you could talk to someone about it? Or are you satisfied, like- you are claiming it for yourself? When you do graffiti is it for your own personal interest, like as a way to take control of public space and assert yourself. Or is it a generous thing, like you are giving up authorship by being anonymous in order to make art a part of public life? Is there compensation for you⊠Or what is your motivation?
I mostly do it to challenge myself. I donât really think of it necessarily as me being generous or asserting myself. I just like it, and I just think it looks good (when theyâre outside as opposed to on a canvas.) Most of the time things get painted over by the city or whatever, but in the end itâs just fun to do, itâs fun to get the photo, and then look back on the memory. Itâs like a sport I guess.. Thereâs a lot of tactic to it as well. I personally get really happy when I see throws around town with super bright colors or that just look really good - Iâm never gonna be able to do anything like that, but being able to add my own art around town makes me feel good too. You almost have to do it for yourself otherwise youâd be pretty disappointed, most people donât notice graffiti unless theyâre looking for it.
I actually rarely tell people that I am an artist, it makes me uncomfortable. I think thatâs why I was drawn to graffiti, because itâs sort of a given that you will just have a secret community of peers where none of you know anything about each other aside from what art you do and what your made-up name is for yourself.
I think anonymity is sort of freeing and I like that, even though I donât really make anything offensive where Iâd need to be anonymous to protect myself, I like not having to censor myself as much when Iâm just putting art around the city. I donât think about all this much, really, so its possible I sound like a moron.
Of course as I get more involved with other people/collaborations, and making âtraditional,â art, on paper, scans ect whatever, identity becomes more necessary. And, thereâs certain things that I am afraid to draw about and post online, or make comics about, the more it becomes inevitable that people who know me in person will find out that I draw.
With comics you can have an anonymous identity. Right? Online you can have a different name. In print too. Having a table at a book fair might be a challenge. Is this an asset or a hinderance?
You can, in theory, be anonymous yes. I donât use my birth name anywhere, and that is itâs own separate identity. But youâd still have to have something, you know? I have a way for people to contact me, I have social media, I have a blog. Even if I never say anything, itâs still a way to reach out. Plus, doing zine fests and stuff, as much as Iâd love to not be there and pay someone else to do it for me, I have to be the one sitting at the table selling my stuff! Usually I go by a different name for that too, different than the name I use for street art and on my blog. (I have actually had my friend pretend to be me at a zine festival which was funny.)
Thatâs so good!
Well, thanks for being so generous with your ideas and sharing about yourself- writing with you about this has been really fun. Maybe we will meet in person someday, or maybe I will meet someone who I think is you but itâs actually one of your friends. That would be cool in weird way too haha. Take care.
Thank you:) Thank you:)
