The Penguin

From time to time I might be blogging on various art movements I like. I have to warn you, of course, that I am by no means an expert on the subject - most of it will just be my own thoughts and musings on the subject. Hopefully it'll be an interesting read. One of my favorite art movements is the amalgamation known as "Art Deco". Art Deco wasn't a discreet art movement in and of itself; the term (as usually used) encompasses a number of art movements and styles, including Constructivism, Cubism, Neoclassicalism, Futurism, and Art Nouveau. Its most famous applications, of course, were in architecture and industrial design. Russian Constructivism. Polish art exhibition poster. Everyone has seen examples of Art Deco design, even if they don't know it - the Chrystler and Empire State buildings in New York City are perhaps the largest examples. These two buildings are typified by their soaring vertical lines and complex peaks: the Empire State Building seems to flow d...

1. Swallow Me Whole Nate Powell Swallow Me Whole is a haunting, nightmarish treatment of suburban adolescence. The story follows the mental journeys of half-siblings Ruth and Perry. They have mental problems to begin with - Perry sees a tiny wizard who tells him to draw things, and Ruth is obsessed with patterns in her insect collection - but as they get older, Ruth sinks steadily deeper into her madness, and Perry finds it more and more difficult to resist the Wizard. Nate Powell is not content merely to chronicle events as an observer - his art draws the reader in, forcing us to experience the characters' mental states for ourselves. Understandably this makes for a confusing read...but what a confusion. The light, incomplete, nebulous drawings translate into a mental fuzziness, compounded by the alteration of dialogue text; the only really clear moments are those of extreme darkness, when Powell slops on great gouts of shadow. The cumulative effect is extraordinarily spooky. Mad ...