Existing in Multiple Contexts
Oh, the boxes we put ourselves into...Also, Animation Block Party and book progress!
Happy September everyone! Greetings from a false fall NYC. It’s that time of the month again, the time to talk recap the prior month :P Let’s get into it!
Whereabouts made its world premiere at Animation Block Party 2025 at the New England Aquarium! And so, we started August with another spontaneous trip to Boston. :0)
There were a couple of pleasant surprises with this festival. For one, the Aquarium had an IMAX screen, and it was amazing to see the films so big. All the quality held up, and the riso dots from Whereabouts especially were so vibrant and clear. I loved seeing the other more experimental/traditional shorts so big too. We all felt immersed! This probably sounds corny, but more animation should be experienced in IMAX, or at least in a theater, and closest to its original format if possible. I’m very thankful that I got to witness people experience Whereabouts this way.
Another surprise was that Whereabouts won the ABP Audience Award! It’s an honor to be a part of Animation Block Party, let alone gain recognition for the film. It was just a few months ago when I was frantically printing with inky fingers, wondering if anyone would watch this short! Feeling a lot of gratitude to Casey Safron from ABP, Steven Blevins (my composer + sound designer), and everyone at the RisoLAB for all their support throughout this project.
I’ve also been making good progress on the big Whereabouts art book. After a couple tests, I’ve locked the overall layout, made important decisions about FONTS™, and sampled a bunch of paper. Graphic design (still) does not bring me joy, but I’ve been feeling a newfound admiration in bookmaking.
The best part of all this though is that I’m learning a lot about my best friend Yejee, and what she spent years doing while we were in college. I think she put 4-5 books out our senior year, all lovingly hand bound and all so different; not necessarily art books but definitely art objects, and mostly printed from home in her big Epson printer. Bookmaking is one facet of her passions, and it’s great to now share that together. If only we knew about Paper Outlet back then!
Making the book has been a great way to process creating the Whereabouts film, but I do feel a little crazy; this is the one project I’ve been working on all year! Aren’t you guys tired of hearing about it, because I am! I’m very eager to draw something new soon… and get rid of all the paper in my living room.
It’s been interesting to juggle both the filmmaking aspect of Whereabouts to the self-publishing, bookmaking side of it. I do want to make another post specifically about film festivals, maybe after I’ve attended more and talked to more programmers, but overall I am noticing so many parallels between the filmmaking and small press scenes. Both involve a lot of curation, and have so many niches within them. In film, I think these delineations are more obvious, but in recent years, small press has really splintered off, especially in comics. Indie comics, fan art, art books — all the different fairs we see popping up is evidence of this. Such a wide range of work exists now, so where do you fit in?
For me, the answer is: I don’t know. I started printing in riso because I fell in love with indie comics. “Oh wow, another animator making comics.” We’ve heard this in the discourse before, artists who feel protective over comics and for one reason or another, hold grudges against people who straddle mediums. In the past, I worried a lot about this. I definitely felt judged, doubted my skills, and wondered whether I could find community in small press.
But it’s such an ironically narrow-minded way to think. We’re in the most freeing discipline possible: sequential art. Storytelling and conveying information through images can’t really be forced into a box. There’s value in programming and curation, but I’m trying not to let that get in the way of my genuine interests. I love comics, animation, and now I’m having fun learning about more about self-publishing and design. My work can exist in multiple contexts, because I do too.
Another thing I want to mention is that I’ll be teaching another RISO Animation Workshop in November! This class is similar to my workshop from the residency, but spread across two days. It’s quite a ways away, but here are the details:
Weekend At the Risolab: Riso Animation Workshop
Saturday + Sunday, November 15-16
Hours: 2:00pm-6:00pm
136 West 21st St,11th Floor
New York, NY
August Favorites:
Andrew Alexander and Alex Laird - Amazing Comics Journal article by Christina Lee. A very inspiring read, a must if you’re making comics in NYC!
Talking to My Father’s Ghost by Alex Krokus - I’ve been a big admirer of Alex’s work and was super curious to see his comics more long form. What a beautiful story. ❤️
Michelle Zauner on Solid Air - Awesome music selects, mostly Korean. :0)
The Reality of the Art Girlfriend Finance Boyfriend Trope - Insightful video essay on the relationship between artists and gentrification. Love videos like this so if you have any suggestions, let me know!
And that’s all for August folks! Thanks for reading, and catch you next time — hope you have a good start to fall. :0)