You can register now for free to attend Markings, a new Illustration and Performance Festival convened by Roger Sabin, with Pascal Lefevre as the keynote speaker.
Taking place Friday 8th – 9th July 2016, Markings consists of a symposium taking place at House of Illustration, followed by a series of performances next door at Central Saint Martins.
Saturday 9th July features, among others, performances by graphic novelists Woodrow Phoenix and ILYA, who is running a masterclass on adapting Shakespearean sonnets into comics form.
This exciting new festival looks at the relationship between illustration and performance, offering, over two days, a series of live art events, interactive workshops, performances and exhibitions; and an academic symposium comprising debates and talks, featuring internationally acclaimed practitioners and scholars.
A unique collaboration between University of the Arts London and House of Illustration, the festival invites illustrators to think beyond the flat surface and consider how performance can be used to invigorate the form; and asks performers how illustration might offer added dimensions.
How might the process of drawing be considered performative? How can illustration be integrated into time-based live performance?
Today, digital drawing and display technologies are enthusiastically used by artists to
incorporate elements of performance, and this combination has a history stretching back at least to the “chalk talks” of the 19th century. As interactive and participatory projects become an increasingly important part of how illustrators capture lived experience, now is the time to take stock of where this relationship has been, and where it is headed.
So join all those already signed up for two days in which drawing, painting, film screenings, dance, and performance of all kinds will electrify the King’s Cross cultural quarter.
Friday’s programme opens with the Markings symposium at House of Illustration, and continues into the evening with a series of live performances and film screenings in Central Saint Martins’ Lethaby Gallery and Crossing spaces, and the Granary Square fountains.
The symposium features a mixture of artists’ talks and research presentations by leading practitioners and scholars that will test the boundaries of existing definitions of illustration. Themes include the relationship between illustration and rehearsal, illustrated books as mini-theatres, and the cognitive processes involved in recognising pictures when we watch them being produced. Each talk will be live-recorded by a graphic facilitator, to contribute to documenting the event and to provide an ongoing demonstration of performative illustration.
The performances will include contributions from cartoonists, film-makers, artists’ collective Drawn Together, and new work created especially for the Festival by UAL’s London College of Fashion, including interactions between costumes, performers and their surroundings.
On Saturday, the festival continues with a series of workshops, film screenings, and exhibitions taking place in House Of Illustration and Central Saint Martin’s Lethaby Gallery, involving dance, theatre, film, and ‘drawing’ in its widest definition, from comic illustration to drawing with light.
• More info: markingsual.co.uk
• Register here via Eventbrite
With thanks to Paul Gravett and John Miers for the info
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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