"Anyone who does not like unhappy endings, usually won't like my work" says Ken Avidor very jovially. Born in Brooklyn NYC, Ken Avidor is an independent illustrator and cartoonist, and one of those rare artists who have dedicated their art towards environmental themes and activism, since the mid 1980s. His art is free (no copyright). A collusion of dark humor, anarchy and contemporary themes. Avidor's comics are full of people and animals who are "dealing with the most extraordinary times". Road Kill-Bill, Pissed-Off Penguins, Countdown To Extinction, Pulse Of Twin Cities and Mazz Alone (the last doomer) bring to life protagonists, who feel and express "collapse" - consequently depicting our current predicament - something that the "don't worry be happy" dominant culture persistently avoids. The characters in Ken's comics, be they homeless penguins or lost rodents, kids or grandmas or even the ghost of Van Gogh, all breath an existential crisis of sorts. Anarchist in nature and aiming at the pre-apocalyptic generation. We spoke to Ken recently, about the themes that have inspired him, his aversion to copyright and new practices such as "ephemeral art" and "live sketching"
"I don't believe in copyright" says Ken. As an artist, that is a rare virtue, especially in this age of self serving output and motivation. Ken adds further to his personal ethos, by saying "copyright stifles creativity. Everyone can share my artwork they find on the Internet without asking permission." He draws inspiration from artists and writers such as Nina Paley (animator, film-maker - Sita Sings The Blues) Jane Jacobs (urbanist, author) and Ivan Illich (philosopher, writer) to name a few. The narratives of Avidor's comic books depict a collusion, of the naive and the rebellious, the silly and the prodigious, grappling with climate change, collapsing civilization and a rising existential crisis within. Feelings and attributes that never shows up in Batman, Superman, Captain America, X-Men and all such icons of the 'super-ego' (enablers of no-brain fantasy). Desertification of the American west, the mass of consumer junk floating in the oceans, the paranoid exit-plans of the billionaire class and the overall folly of our not-so-great civilization, are some of the themes that Avidor has addressed during the last two decades.
Ken's latest work titled "Courier" is ominous yet satirical. The main protagonist, a delivery guy is on a mission - to deliver burgers inside an apocalyptic war-zone. Even the warring zombies need fast-food! "There was time in the early 80's when I lived in New York... a child of the cold-war atomic age (ducking for cover)... I thought, I probably would be dead very soon and became obsessed with the idea... but also in the culture of that time, there was a lot of art, film, images and discussions which depicted that rising fear... that the world was on the brink of annihilation, nuclear war... which almost happened, several times! I was very inspired by such art, books and TV shows... What feels odd to me now, is that there is not enough imagining of the future... regarding extinction or the other factors contributing to collapse. Guess people are too busy on social media?" says Ken in a recent interview with 'Poetry Of Predicament'.
"Ephemeral art" - "sidewalk chalk drawings" - "here today, gone tomorrow" - "live sketching". Emerging ideas and practices, which places the art and the artist in a temporal reality, away from the traditional studio and it's static environment. "Many of my characters are derived from sketches that I did in public spaces, often drawn and inspired observing common people and everyday life" states Ken, as he explains the nature of ephemeral art. Instead of postulating on the "eternal value" of art and paintings, the new aesthetics align with nature - from creation to degradation. As in reality, nothing actually exists forever. The presence of nature, sunlight, urban structures, movement of people, city noise etc (external conditions) which influence the artist's imagination and impression. Temporal in nature, and not framed inside a museum. Ken's latest illustrated storybook titled "Bicyclopolis" is extrapolating "a space-faring techno-utopia set against a backdrop of eminent and horrific futures". A recent review of the book states "Avidor’s creations have been idealistic and instructional but never unrealistic nor perfect ... Many of his characters are limited or misguided, but always vividly human... none of these characters are mere cartoons."
WATCH / SHARE KEN AVIDOR'S SHORT FILMS
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