Paul Metcalf, I-57 (1984). Metcalf's collage-like storytelling is an ongoing influence on this strip. I am intrigued by my own reaction when unanticipated or unwanted style changes are made an integral part of a narrative.
History is a preoccupation for Metcalf: personal history, cultural history, natural history. Geography as a defining characteristic of personal identity.
I-57 traces a personal story against a broader social organism, with an Interstate Highway system as a spine. "I-57" also a pun: it was written in Metcalf's 57th year.
And, so, I am 50. Written in the week of my 50th birthday, this cartoon traces the journey of this story - neither a cartoon, nor a story, nor an autobiography. Neither an IT Support professional, nor a father, nor a boyfriend, nor an artist. Yet, at times, some or all of these.
SM panel addresses my tic - my broken self. Metcalf's stories often addressing that which puts us apart. The internal voice seeing it simply as malfunction.
And the final panel: the map doesn't always work. The cartoon doesn't always stand up to scrutiny. The life doesn't always make sense, or be justified as worth living.
Guy holds a map that traces the route back to who we were.
Paul Metcalf, I-57 (1984). Metcalf's collage-like storytelling is an ongoing influence on this strip. I am intrigued by my own reaction when unanticipated or unwanted style changes are made an integral part of a narrative.
ReplyDeleteHistory is a preoccupation for Metcalf: personal history, cultural history, natural history. Geography as a defining characteristic of personal identity.
I-57 traces a personal story against a broader social organism, with an Interstate Highway system as a spine. "I-57" also a pun: it was written in Metcalf's 57th year.
And, so, I am 50. Written in the week of my 50th birthday, this cartoon traces the journey of this story - neither a cartoon, nor a story, nor an autobiography. Neither an IT Support professional, nor a father, nor a boyfriend, nor an artist. Yet, at times, some or all of these.
SM panel addresses my tic - my broken self. Metcalf's stories often addressing that which puts us apart. The internal voice seeing it simply as malfunction.
And the final panel: the map doesn't always work. The cartoon doesn't always stand up to scrutiny. The life doesn't always make sense, or be justified as worth living.
Guy holds a map that traces the route back to who we were.