To say that sci-fi and fantasy are visual genres is like saying food is for eating. Duh! At Narazu, we try to explore all facets of speculative fiction, but it’s hard to cram ALL THE AWESOMENESS into one blog post… so this month we’re taking a hard right. In this month’s issue you won’t find a single book, comic, graphic novel, or film. (Finally, the one NARAZU post you can share with your friends who “don’t read”.)
Instead, we’re celebrating the masters who tell a story without a single word. This month, we’re bingeing on the visual arts. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, we’ll say no more. The beauty of their art speaks for itself. Feast your eyes. Fill your soul. And most importantly, click those links! Their galleries await!
Best Always!
Team Narazu
All Indie. All Awesome.
Leo: EYES WIDE OPEN
by Leo Faierman
Allow me to present three unique experiments for your visual attention: a delightful though somewhat under-appreciated music video by a household name in French music; a film-oriented video game by a Scottish sculptor/filmmaker/musician/game developer; one beautifully tragic trip into the underworld by a tiny Hong Kong animation group. All three projects are scrappy, strange, and unique within their respective platforms of expression and, most importantly, all of them feature imagery that will be nigh-impossible to sweep out of your mind.
Quentin Dupieux’s (better known by his music-making moniker Mr. Oizo [pronounced WAH-zo]) 1999 debut album Analog Worms Attack meshed French house, techno, and electronic music with a stretchy sense of humor that permeated any semblance of actual narrative . Dupieux was also responsible for much of the artwork therein, and even had his now-ubiquitous (at least in France) yellow puppet Flat Eric designed by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, popularly featured in the breakout “Flat Beat” video. The fascinatingly surreal video for the title track tells a macabre and hilarious story about a group of letterman-jacket-wearing street toughs who meet in the woods to race their pet alien worms against each other (yep, that sentence deserves at least two reads or so). There’s a horror-film feel to the experience that is ratcheted up by its nonsensically absurd concept, lending it an almost early-era Tim Burton-esque quality. There is only one place to find a copy of this treat: record label F Communication’s own YouTube channel.
Jack King-Spooner’s magnificent adventure game Dujanah is playful and surreal, but it’s also subsumed by a tragic war-torn theme of loss. Centered on a Muslim mother who is searching for her husband and daughter, Dujanah wanders a mostly clay-constructed world encountering unique individuals, many of whom have also lost something or someone important to them, contributing to a textured conversation about death and consciousness. Film and music are integral parts of the experience, with short films hidden in every nook and cranny plus over 60 different songs (you can sample and purchase the soundtrack here). Most everything in the game is built from clay and broken computer parts, which can either be cute or creepy depending on the scene. The closest comparison one could make to Dujanah is probably the work of David Lynch, in that both artists approach animated storytelling from a visually-oriented vantage, and both seek to tell intimate, vulnerable, and unsettling stories that are yet inescapably comic. Dujanah has to be King-Spooner’s most vibrant opus thus far, and its positive-but-meager 55 reviews on Steam could use your help, for only $6.99.
And finally, let’s take a look at 世外, translated on its YouTube page as “Another World,” though that may be imprecise. Taking place in a pastel-hued afterlife, a grim masked guide joins dozens of others, all of whom meet and attempt to tug a departed soul to the next stage of their travels. A warm piano meanders throughout, which contradicts the dark reality of the tale as it is methodically stripped down; do note that the surprising twists in the story render this short as non-child-friendly. Independent animation of this quality and in this style is quite rare, and Another World is smartly efficient in its construction — most scenes make use of minimal animated sections — but the work as a whole does not feel lessened in the slightest. It’s a stunning project at only 14 minutes long but, trust me, it packs a wallop. You can watch Another World on the HKDEA ASP YouTube page, and learn more about the Hong Kong Digital Entertainment Association here (though you might need to use Google Translate on some of the content).
Cerece: DIG, IF YOU WILL, THE PICTURE
We’ve all had that moment when we’re walking along (say at a con, at a museum, a comic shop, or even through a friend’s house) and are stopped short by a visual BAM, an image so cool, beautiful, lush or divine that it not only takes our breath away but fires up the imaginations. I had the recent pleasure of walking through the artists alley at GenCon in Indianapolis, and let me tell you, the BAM was in full effect, along with some BOOM and POW.
The Art of
We met her a week ago at GenCon and were instantly blown away by her illustrations of a magical retelling of Alice in Wonderland. Alive with color, history and subtle seduction, her paintings break open the possibility of everything you see (and what’s just behind) the canvas paint. But there is no need to take our word for it, check out her website and see for yourself.
P.S. Also check out her Interviews with Artist of Color. Mia provides some fantastic insight into the work of absolutely extraordinary artists.
The Art of
The painting you see above stopped us in our tracks (and got all of Editor-At-Large Clarence Young’s money) at GenCon. This artist was literally hanging around at a corner booth, talking about creating a world-building project just for fun. But the results of his artistic frolicking are nothing less than jaw-dropping. His website is filled with character drawings you might recognize (he’s worked with Sony and Sabertooth Games) and one-of-a-kind inventions of his own. Check out his website and be amazed!
The Art of
When NASA selects you to create art for their new James Webb Space Telescope, you know your stuff must be out of this world. That’s who Joanna Barnum is. Given this high honor, you might expect her work to be saturated with images of intergalactic splendor and in a sense it is, just not the way you might be expecting. Instead of the far reaches of space, Joanna uses the riotous energy of watercolors to peel back the layers of the terrestrial plane and show us the universe inside the one in which we live. Her Simultaneous Realities series is a shining example of this. Check out more of her brave new explorations here.
The Art of
Grant Cooley and the good people at Dark Solstice Games are clearly on a mission to create a visual and RPG gaming experience like none you’ve ever experienced. When you talk to Grant about the upcoming World of Enoch game, it’s clear they spent a lot of time deconstructing our world to create their own. The proof is in the artwork and the gaming beta kit, which you can test out here. To go deeper, check out Grant’s website.
Note: We saw so many amazing artists at GenCon. We honestly thought it was one of the strongest gatherings of artists we’ve ever seen at a Con (and we’ve been to a LOT of cons). Bottom line, GenCon is for art lovers, too!