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blogging-time · 6 years

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“Honey, Honey.”

My Fic Masterlist

Summary: Logan never really was one for dancing, but when a dashing prince starts spinning you around the room against your will, serenading you with every step… well... you can’t exactly say no…

Based on this beautiful artwork by @artistwave, while also making reference to these two stunning works as well!

Warnings: N/A

Pairings: Logince

Word Count: 4,400

~ ~ ~

Logan never really was one for singing. He was perceived to be a man of the upmost refinement; a man who indulged almost the entirety of his alone-time secluded with the written word. Within the confines of his own mind serenades were nothing more than idiotic clichés intended to deceive a wider, lonelier audience into believing that a re-hashed version of some hit pop-song equated to true-love at long last. Newsflash, Hollywood: “Can’t Help Falling in Love” lost all authentic meaning when Zayn Malik decided to make an official cover of it too.

Logan never really was one for dancing. He simply preferred to let his eyes gently wander across the page as the newly absorbed words danced and fluttered around in his head, elegantly eloping with all prior knowledge, and forging one complete tale of excitement and adventure behind his patient eyes. Big musical dance numbers were surely far too unrealistic for him. Too many limbs. Too many opportunities to fall and fracture a femur. All semblance of elegance was lost when the activity became far too literal for Logan’s acquired taste.

Logan never really was one for musicals. The very premise of building an entire world around pre-written songs seemed positively ludicrous to him, or “Pattonly-absurd” as the Dad-Side would often joke. “Mamma Mia” was one of his least favourite musicals for that very reason. Failing to create an interesting environment was one thing, but to steal already overdone songs from another in order to accomplish such a lacklustre thing? Oh please. Logan preferred a far more structured and scientifically sound world. One with proper meaning and purpose. A world that revolved as much around the known and unknown as our own reality does on a daily basis.

Logan was a man of literature. Arthur Conan Doyle. Agatha Christie. Toni Morrison. Novels. Poetry. Riddles. He adored the lot. To Logan, his library was like an entire universe, and inside it were the books – the planets – all just waiting to be explored.

Of course, this led to a number of disputes with his partner, Roman.

“Roman, songs are not the written word “vocalized”; they are the written word internationally marketed and sold off for an ill-deserved profit.”

Logan once refused to look Roman in the eye for a day after the prince dared to suggest literature was much the same.

“Oh yeah? Tell me then, Edgar Allan Foe, why books are not simply given out for free? Why should they be sold out in shops if any profit they turn in is so ill-deserved?”

“Novels are different.”

“Why? Because less people are interested in them?”

That had proven to be one of their more heated debates.

Of course, Roman was also the sort to think “Twilight” classified as “Classical Literature,” on the sole basis that it was over a decade old, so Logan couldn’t stay mad at him for too long. Roman’s cluelessness was not only a weakness for the prince himself, but for Logan too. It was almost endearing… in an odd way… Besides, it allowed for Logan to rant about the things he loved and was captivated by, meanwhile Roman would be captivated by the one he loved speaking so passionately. They balanced each other out in this way.

Still, there was one… perhaps unconventional… piece of literature that Logan could not help but enjoy.

Magazines.

Fashion magazines to be more specific.

He hadn’t intended to grow addicted, but alas Virgil had left a single copy of “Kirameki” on the kitchen counter one day and before he could even think to stop himself from reading it he was on the last page. It seems highly improbable to most that some article containing such simplistic language, an abundance of images, and absolutely no plotline could captivate the interest of one as astute as Logan himself… but the style… it was just so… different!

From magazine to magazine his interest leapt… “Fashion,” “Cosmopolitan,” “Vogue,” etc… and if he just so happened to conjure up a few of the outfits he saw across the various articles, then he would soon reassure himself with the belief that it was for entirely scientific and experimental purposes, and most certainly not because more vibrant colours made him feel… cute… That was just an added bonus.

~ ~ ~

On a day such as this, Logan found himself cycling through a few new potential outfit combinations. The first was composed of primarily pinks and blues. The large pink sweater combined with the denim blue short-shorts and the knee-high baseball socks gave off a very “youthful” vibe. Although it was a style he’d grown relatively fond of, the logical Side thought it best reserved for game nights. Distracting Roman with the matching bow necklace was the only way he could beat the prince at “Kirby” after all.

The second outfit was far classier and mimicked the logical Side’s natural style better, matching a halter neckline, tight-fit purple top with a dark pencil skirt. It was not that Logan had any outright objections to the outfit, but rather that one simply does not indulge Patton in a game of “Patton-cake” then wear a pair of four-inch high-heels the very next day. Unfortunately for him, those were the only shoes that could match such an outfit.

The final outfit Logan tried and eventually settled on was perhaps the most vibrant of the lot. The trousers were nothing to marvel at as they were nothing more than a standard full-length denim pair with a simple brown leather belt holding them up at the waist. The top and shoes, however? Now those were something to marvel at.

The top Logan chose was a bright, yellow crop-top with the word “Honey” written on it in bold, red letters. Reaching only half-way down his chest, the crop-top didn’t leave much to the imagination when it came to the logical Side’s toned physique. The shoes Logan selected to match such a spectacle of a top were no less eye-catching. On his feet the logical Side wore a pair of floral high-tops with a simple black sole and lace. The flowers themselves were all various complimentary shades of creams, yellows and pinks, and should the light catch the well-maintained surface at just the right angle, then the shoes would shine as if demanding further attention.

Logan cast one final look at himself in his bedroom mirror before deciding the look was complete, stepping out of his room, and setting his sights on Roman’s.

~ ~ ~

If there was one thing Logan had come to realize about Roman, it was that he was often heard long before he could be seen. Today was no exception.

From the moment he dared to set foot inside the creative Side’s domain, Logan could clearly hear the sound of music pouring out from somewhere within the bedroom, yet upon looking around he saw no one. He scratched the back of his head in contemplation as his eyes did another quick scan around the room, only to notice that the door of Roman’s walk-in wardrobe had been left slightly ajar.

“Princey?” Logan called out.

There was no response. It seemed as though his partner hadn’t heard him over the sound of “Dancing Queen.” Great. Mentally, Logan added the word “distracting” to the list of reasons as to why he disliked musicals.

He called out to his partner again as he took another few steps towards the walk-in wardrobe, this time gaining enough attention to make Roman stop singing, and to turn the music on his speaker down significantly.

“Is somebody there?”

Just before Logan could reach out and open the door completely, Roman stepped out into his bedroom. Each man looked startled for just a moment before their pride forced them into maintaining a straight face.

“Princey.”

“Teach.”

The pair smiled fondly at each other before Roman raised his hands up to rest them gently on Logan’s bare forearms.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” the prince inquired.

“Can’t one boyfriend simply wish to visit another?”

“Under normal circumstances perhaps, but the boyfriend in question is you, and you typically avoid me when I’m in a musical mood?”

“My sincerest apologies for not hearing your music from my room.”

“My sincerest apologies for not playing my music loud enough.”

At that, Logan couldn’t help but roll his eyes, causing the prince to let out a small chuckle. It was not long ago that the royal Side had hated seeing the logical Side’s eyes roll like that. He had always feared Logan was silently calling his intelligence into question when he rolled his eyes so nonchalantly, but now, having come to understand his “darling” on a deeper level, Roman knew that that was never the case. He and Logan were equals. The eye-rolling was now just another form of playful banter to them.

“If I ever hear your music all the way from my room, I assure you you’ll hear me coming.”

“Dutifully noted,” Roman replied as his hands gently glided down Logan’s arms, eventually clasping their hands together.

For a moment, Logan was able to just silently relax and appreciate the man stood there before him… and then Roman kept talking…

“Care to dance?”

“In your dreams.”

“With you, every day’s a dream,” he attempted.

“Cute, but you can dream on. I’m not dancing.”

With that, Logan pulled his hands gently out of Roman’s grasp and took a few steps backwards, offering his partner a playfully scolding look as he did so.

“You know I don’t dance.”

“It was worth a try.”

The pair smiled at each other again. From this distance they could finally get a good look at each other.

It seemed the prince was also trying on a new outfit today, as casual-wear wasn’t typically his style. Roman was dressed very similarly to Logan. He too wore long denim jeans, albeit in a darker shade. The yellow shirt was also a similar item, however, Roman’s was plain and longer, meeting his jeans at the waist. Not only that, but he had elected to wear an open dark blue shirt over the top, which just about reached down to the bottom of his posterior. Finally, he wore a simple black pair of converse on his feet, both the soles and laces of which were a pristine white colour.

The more Logan looked at Roman, the more he couldn’t help but smile wider. According to Newton’s first law of motion an object in motion will stay in motion unless some other force acts to change said motion. To Logan’s heart, Roman was always that adequate force that made it skip a beat.

The more Roman looked at Logan, the more difficult it was to hold back the oncoming blush. Logan usually appeared to dress so formally and reserved, so seeing him like that was always a pleasant surprise. This impossible man was just full of surprises… If only it weren’t impossible to see him dance.

It was then that Roman’s eyes finally caught sight of the phrase on Logan’s shirt.

“Honey.” One simple word printed there in bold, red letters.

One simple word placed directly in front of him.

One simple word was all he needed.

~ ~ ~

The only warning Logan received came in the form of a playful smirk from Roman before the aforementioned prince spun around and re-directed his attention back towards his speaker.

At this point Logan was confused. He knew how his partner adored their music, but it was highly unlike Roman to ignore him in favour of it.

“Roman?” he questioned, only vaguely masking the annoyance creeping into his tone of voice.

“Just a moment, love,” he responded, sounding far too chipper for Logan’s comfort.

Logan responded with only a faint frown, but listened as Roman skipped through various songs time and time again. Sometimes he only caught a chord or the beginning of a word. One time all he heard was Meryl Streep exhale. This routine continued until eventually…

“Perfect,” Roman muttered to himself, finally turning away from his speaker and all but waltzing up to Logan with a benevolent smirk on his face.

“What are you up to?” Logan asked, knowing far better than to blindly accept any one of Roman’s schemes.

“You’ll see.”

Somehow Logan didn’t find any reassurance in that sentiment, but before he could even try to get another word in… he heard it…

‘Honey, honey, how he thrills me, a-ha, honey, honey!’

Logan’s eyes widened in horror.

‘Honey, honey, nearly kills me, a-ha, honey, honey!’

Logan opens his mouth to protest, but Roman won’t allow it. In what is almost a blur of movement, Roman takes Logan’s hands in his own again, and this time there is no easy escape.

“Roman!” Logan yells, but it’s no use. Roman is too pre-occupied with singing along to respond to Logan’s pleas.

“I've heard about him before,

I wanted to know some more,

And now I know what they mean, he's a love machine,

Oh, he makes me dizzy!”

Logan lets out a not-so-dignified yelp as Roman suddenly decides to twirl them around together. The world around him becomes an indistinguishable blur as he quickly finds the only thing his eyes can concentrate on anymore is Roman.

Goodness, this moment had the potential to be so much more romantic if only the logical Side wasn’t being tossed around against his will.

“Roman!” Logan yelled again, this time harshly pulling his hands away.

Fortunately for him, his attempt at an escape had proven to be quite successful.

Unfortunately for him, he hadn’t exactly formulated a plan regarding what should be done if he were to escape mid-twirl.

The world continued to spin as the logical Side stumbled backwards, barely managing to keep himself balanced until the prince himself managed to catch him in a dip.

Yet another potentially beautiful romantic moment tragically tainted by circumstance.

“What will it take to make you stop?” Logan asked, sounding both out of breath and exasperated.

Roman seemed to ponder over his words for a moment.

“One dance,” the prince eventually answered, then upon noticing Logan’s quizzical look he continued, “One dance, and if you don’t enjoy it then I promise you I will never ask you to dance again.”

“Or force me?”

“Or force you.”

Logan started weighing out his options in his head. True, dancing didn’t sound particularly enjoyable, but if it meant escaping his partner’s constant invitations then wouldn’t that make the trade-off worth it? Besides, Roman certainly seemed amused by all of this if his smile was anything to go by. Of course he’d still have to discuss boundaries with the prince later as forcing him into situations like these certainly violated them, but for now… for now he believed he could tolerate the prince’s wishes…

As the music played on, the prince continued to look at him expectantly.

“I know I’m not going to enjoy this,” Logan began, “But if I have your word that you’ll never ask me to dance again-”

“You do,” Roman interrupted.

“-Then I suppose I can endure this one dance with you.”

Roman smiled gently as he guided Logan back into a standing position.

“You won’t regret this.”

Each man certainly hoped so. After all, Roman had bet everything on this one opportunity.

~ ~ ~

By the time the deal was made, “Honey, Honey” was already half-way through the second verse. To make matters fair, Logan allowed Roman to rewind the song back to the beginning, just this once.

Rushing back over to Logan’s side with an arrogant smirk on his face, the royal instructed Logan to just, “Follow my lead.”

“And how do you suppose someone could possibly lead their dance partner to the song, ‘Honey, Honey’ if I may be so skeptical as to ask?” Logan chided.

“Just keep your eyes locked on mine, and let the music be your guide.”

Logan elected to ignore that “High School Musical Three” reference in favour of not wanting to punch Roman right in his perfect teeth. With all the rhythm of a startled elephant, he attempted to follow Roman’s instructions.

“Well that’s certainly… something…”

“That’s nerves. This dancing business gets on every last one of them.”

“That’s not the way dancing should be.”

“Well your instructions didn’t exactly teach me much, now did they?”

With a slight sigh, Roman stopped dancing himself.

“First of all you need to relax. You’ll never find your rhythm with your muscles so tensed up like that.”

“You’re making the dangerous assumption that there’s actually any rhythm to find which, in my honest opinion, sounds like an utterly ludicrous hypothesis.”

“Then allow me to prove you wrong. Come here,” the prince instructed, gesturing to the space directly in front of him.

Logan hesitantly obliged.

“Perfect, now turn around so that your back is lightly pressed against my chest.”

“Like this?” Logan asked, slowly moving into position.

“That’s perfect, darling. Just like that.”

As gently as he could manage, Roman slipped his arm around the waist of the man in front of him, causing the pair to blush slightly. His other hand rested lightly on Logan’s forearm.

“Now I want you to just listen to the music. Find your rhythm, and sway your hips in time to it. I’ll be here to help keep you right, okay?”

Listen to the music. Find your rhythm. Sway your hips.

Logan could try that.

“Okay,” he answered, before turning his attention back towards the speaker.

‘Honey, honey, let me feel it, ah-ha, honey, honey!’

He started with two subtle sways to the words “Honey, honey,” each time he heard the phrase. Just behind him he could feel Roman mimicking his movements with only a little more energy.

‘Honey, honey, don't conceal it, ah-ha, honey, honey!’

Attempting to do as Amanda Seyfried sang, Logan’s movements became more invigorated, his hips almost popping from side to side with the beat. Now he could practically feel Roman smiling just behind his ear. He knew he must have been doing something right.

“The way that you kiss goodnight!”

As much as Logan attempted to restrain himself, he couldn’t entirely quell the sneaking smile that crept back onto his face as Roman resumed singing.

“The way that you hold me tight!”

He didn’t miss the way Roman’s hold on his waist subtly tightened as if he were subconsciously obeying the lyrics.

“I feel like I wanna sing when you do your... thing!”

Nor could he ignore Roman’s somewhat hilarious attempt to replicate the way Amanda Seyfried had sang the word “thing.” It was clear he had attempted to go for the laughing effect, but it sounded more like he was about to choke than anything. Either way it succeeded in making Logan laugh along too.

As the instrumental break kicked in, Logan could feel Roman gently resting their head against his.

“Feeling more at ease?”

“Well, I suppose this isn’t as bad as I’d imagined it would be.”

“Would you say it’s even a pleasant enough experience for you to sing-along with me?”

“Don’t push your luck, honey,” Logan playfully scolded.

The prince feigned an offended scoff, but still took pride in the little victory he had achieved. Even though he’d had to strike a deal just to get this far, it was nice to see his partner so laid-back like this. More than once he had concerned himself with Logan’s apparent lack of movement and typically awful posture. Surely hunching over books all day couldn’t be good for anyone’s well-being. Perhaps if he made this experience enjoyable enough for Logan, he could make a dance partner out of him yet.

All thoughts of the future were banished however when the third verse dragged him back to the present.

“Honey, honey, touch me baby, a-ha, honey, honey!”

As if on cue, Roman’s other hand slid away from Logan’s forearm and up to the sleeve of his crop-top. With a gentle tug, he prompted the man to outstretch his arm so that it was held far out from his side.

“Honey, honey, hold me baby, a-ha, honey, honey!”

His hand then traversed down Logan’s side, guiding the man’s movements and encouraging an additional flair in every step the pair took together. With his partner’s encouragement, Logan started moving his abdomen is small circles, round and around to the beat.

“You look like a movie star,

But I like just who you are,

And, honey, to say the least... you're a doggone beast!”

Finally, Roman’s right hand landed firmly on Logan’s hips, directly opposite to the left, before each hand slipped forward in order to clasp together in front of Logan’s belly button. While keeping a strong hold on the man, Roman used all his strength to lift his partner up off the ground and spin him around.

Logan only gave a faint yelp before laughing breathlessly, and allowing his feet to hover slightly off of the ground. He wasn’t entirely sure if he was finally placing his trust in Roman, or if all of his adrenaline had just suddenly kicked in, but it didn’t matter. In just a moment it was all over, and his feet were planted firmly back on the ground. Behind him, he could feel Roman catching his breath, causing him to smirk.

“I haven’t tired you out with all this dancing, have I?” he teased.

“In your dreams.”

“With you, every day’s a dream.”

“…Cute…”

Roman’s left hand moved back into its original position and rewrapped itself around Logan’s waist, meanwhile he rested his right hand on the man’s side, ensuring his partner had to keep their right arm outstretched.

“Keep your right arm bent, starlight,” Roman instructed.

“Like… this…?”

“Not quite… Make the bend a gentle curve, not a sudden drop.”

“Is this okay?”

“That’s perfect.”

Before Logan could ask any more questions, he felt a light pressure on his right thumb and index finger. Looking down in confusion, he soon noticed that the source of the pressure was coming from Roman’s own hand, but it didn’t appear as though he were trying to clasp their hands together again. Upon closer inspection, Logan realized his partner’s true ambitions. Not far from Logan’s hips, Roman had joined the pair’s thumbs and index fingers together, creating a small heart shape between them.

“You dork,” Logan commented, laughing softly to himself as he turned his head as far as he could to face Roman, his left hand gently cupping the blushing man’s cheek.

“Guilty as charged.”

The logical Side offered his partner a faint smile before lightly kissing their cheek.

‘Honey, honey, how he thrilled me, ah-ha, honey, honey!’

The song was nearly over now, but Roman was never one to be outdone.

‘Honey, honey, nearly killed me, ah-ha, honey, honey!’

This time, the hand wrapped around Logan’s waist moved slowly, so that Logan was gradually brought face-to-face with the prince.

‘I'd heard about you before,

I wanted to know some more,’

Each man smiled warmly at each other. For as spontaneous as Roman tried to be, even he could be largely predictable. While gently resting their noses against each other’s, Logan waited expectantly for his partner to make the first move.

And now I'm about to see,

What you mean to me.’

Their kiss was soft, sweet, simple, and lasted for only a brief moment before the pair parted, each taking a step back as the song came to an end.

~ ~ ~

A single moment of calm hung in the air before Roman dismantled it with his typical flair for the theatrics and need to be over-dramatic.

With an overly exasperated sigh and grand gesture the prince announced, “You kept your end of the bargain. Now I… I promise I will never ask nor force you to dance ever again.”

In his mind, Logan just wanted to say ‘Thank you,’ but his heart wouldn’t allow for it. There was no way he could stare directly into the prince’s dejected eyes and betray his end of the bargain. He felt a twinge of regret already settling in before he even let the truth slip, but continued anyway.

“I’m afraid that won’t be necessary.”

Now looking like a deer caught in the headlights, Roman could only ask, “What do you mean?”

A half-smile made its way onto Logan’s face.

“I meant as I said. You don’t need to entirely abandon your pursuits of converting me into your dance partner yet.”

“I don’t understand. We made a deal. A prince always keeps his word, Logan.”

“If my recollection of events serves me well – which let’s face it, it always does – then we agreed you were only to stop asking me to dance in the event that I… in the event that I did not enjoy this one dance with you.”

One could practically hear the gears turning in Roman’s head as the aforementioned prince mulled over this newly acquired information. If his boyfriend had truly meant what he said, then that meant-

“You enjoyed our dance?” he asked, his tone one of disbelief.

Logan quirked an eyebrow.

“This surprises you?”

“Admittedly it does. Just a little bit.”

Typical.

“Well, while calling our little dancing escapade ‘enjoyable’ may be a slight overstatement, I must admit I… I didn’t find it to be an entirely terrible or regrettable experience either. Besides, dancing is a valid form of exercise so-”

“So you’ll dance with me again?”

“Well, I’ll certainly consider it.”

Roman nodded his head slightly. There was a glimmer of hope in his eyes. No more words were needed to convey his gratitude.

“Just don’t expect me to dance with you publicly. Force me into a public dancing session and I doubt I’ll be able to vouch for your continued survival.”

“Of course, mi querido. I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Logan knew that statement wasn’t entirely true. Sometimes his prince couldn’t help where his mind wandered, but he wasn’t about to tarnish this pleasant moment with more factual information.

Of course his mind was still full of uncertainties.

Would he honestly be able to dance with Roman again?

Would he ever become an adequate dance partner?

Would Roman even be willing to continue teaching him?

Those were questions he couldn’t quite answer yet, but, if dancing had taught him anything today, it was that whatever step he and his partner both took next, they would both take it together to the beat of their hearts.

Perhaps musical clichés weren’t so bad after all.

~ ~ ~

General Tag-List:

@lunamay2006 @not-so-innocent-bi-sander @saphael-malec102

Note: It’s been a long time since I’ve posted a fic, so this tag-list may be a little outdated. If at any point you want to be added/removed from my tag-list then feel free to let me know!

As always, feedback is much appreciated! I was pretty out of practice here, so I’m sure I’d benefit a lot from constructive criticism! I hope you’re all have a fan-der-tastic day!

#Sanders Sides #Logan Sanders #Roman Sanders #Logince #My Fic

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recentanimenews · 6 years

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Bookshelf Briefs 4/30/18

Again!!, Vol. 2 | By Mitsurou Kubo | Kodansha Comics – Imamura sets about convincing the former members of the ouendan to rejoin the club. Although he has success with drummer Tatsuhiko Okuma (who has an extremenly ardent, unrequited crush on Usami), the other second years want nothing to do with it. Thankfully, he finally manages to convince a pair of third years to return by exposing the cheerleaders’ evil plot via a puppet show. (Yes, really.) Things are looking up, Usami is smiling, but… he’s still stuck in the past, and he’s a member of a club he never intended to personally join, and what’s more, he has knowledge that the school’s sports teams aren’t going to win anything. The volume ends with the suggestion that he might try to change that, but it seems like what he really needs to conquer is his own deep-seated belief that he’s a bad-luck charm. This is a fun series. – Michelle Smith

DAYS, Vol. 8 | By Tsuyoshi Yasuda | Kodansha Comics (digital only)- It’s the semi-finals of the Tokyo qualifiers for the All Japan Tournament, the final chance for Seiseki’s third years to play on the national stage. Unfortunately, with Oshiba and Kazama injured, and captain Mizuki forced to sit out because of penalties in previous games, Seiseki is missing its offensive powerhouses. Tsukamoto plays his first official game in some time, and it’s truly gratifying to see him gradually realize that he doesn’t suck anymore. He has a real affinity for regaining possession of stolen balls, and once he begins to have some confidence in his skill, soccer, which previously was just a way of hanging out with friends, starts to become fun in its own right. Seeing him seize the opportunity for a shot without hesitation is quite a big deal, even though he misses. Looking forward to volume nine! – Michelle Smith

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, Vol. 1 | By Inio Asano | Viz Media – While it may not be as immediately dark as some of Asano’s other manga, Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction still has an ominous and disconcerting atmosphere to it; already there is plenty of heartbreak along with the more lighthearted moments. Kadode Koyama is a young woman in high school who is having a difficult time finding the motivation to devote to her studies when the world itself is coming to an end. Three years ago, aliens appeared from outer space, the attack changing both everything and nothing about human life on Earth. While the story itself is intriguing, Asano’s artwork is a real highlight of the series. With dramatic angles and cinematic framing, Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction is always visually dynamic even when the manga focuses on the more mundane aspects of the characters’ lives. Well, as surprisingly mundane as things can be when living through an alien invasion. – Ash Brown

The Honor Student at Magic High School, Vol. 8 | By Tsutomu Sato and Yu Mori | Yen Press – For a series that’s supposed to be about Miyuki, the side manga really isn’t concentrating on her POV as much as you’d expect. Of course, given Miyuki’s incestuous love for her brother, perhaps that’s for the best. Instead, this volume is Honoka-and-Shizuru heavy, as we see Honoka’s triumphant win at Battle Board (as well as her triumphantly skintight wetsuit, which shows off her large chest to a ridiculous degree) and also see Shizuku’s battle with Miyuki in Ice Pillars Break, whose conclusion is fairly obvious but still emotional. It’s hard to strive to do your best when you hang around with people so far above you every day, let alone when they’re good friends. Excellent – Sean Gaffney

Imperfect Girl, Vol. 3 | By NISIOISIN and Mitsuru Hattori | Vertical Comics – Good news, the series stayed away from disquieting relationships, though there is a bath scene together. This series has been about a girl who has suffered abuse, and her traumatic mindset after the death of her parents. Said death is shown here, a bit unrealistic but evocative, as is somewhat expected of Nisioisin. Speaking of which, the revelation of the stories that the narrator wants to tell now is a nice fourth-wall break, as they’re all if Nisioisin’s other series, from Zaregoto onward. The conclusion is perhaps a bit too pat, but honestly at this point after all the exhausting tension of the three-book series, pat is good enough for me. Good stuff. – Sean Gaffney

Murcielago, Vol. 6 | By Yoshimurakana | Yen Press – To answer my question from last review, yup, this volume begins with a ridiculously over-the-top sex scene between Kuroko and the mother from last volume. As for the daughter, she’s attending a new school, which is an elevator school that also features Hinako and her friends, as well as a mad bomber, some unfortunate bullies, and a seemingly meek young woman whom Kuroko helps to stroll down the path of a twisted lesbian killer. For all that Kuroko is theoretically helping the police, there’s never any doubt that she’s also killing because she loves it, and gets away with it here. I emphasize again: I enjoy reading Murcielago, but it is a nasty series, and you need to accept that going in. Everyone here is awful. – Sean Gaffney

Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn, Vol. 10 | By Shirow Masamune and Rikudou Koushi | Seven Seas – Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. The first half of this is standard Pandora, meaning somewhat dull and also filled with dumb comedy, though I did appreciate that Vlind’s two assistants seemingly look similar to Hyatt and Elgala. The second half, dealing with Mr. Keith Brooklyn, his wife, and their child, is a lot better, getting into the nature of “quality of life” and what it means to be truly happy, and utilizing Nene’s special superpowers for a good, loving reason. I know more than to expect this sort of thing to continue, but it was greatly appreciated as a break from the fanservice and global conspiracy. – Sean Gaffney

Spirit Circle, Vol. 3 | By Satoshi Mizukami | Seven Seas – Fuuta is getting better at reconciling his past lives with his present (and figuring out that his family and friends are also connected to him in the past), but he’s not getting along any better with Kouko, and she’s determined to destroy him for what he apparently did as Fortuna—which we still don’t know, and which Fortuna himself seems to be trying to actively stop him learning. As for the life we see this time around, it’s a tale of old samurai, and he and Kouko literally lose an arm and a leg each to each other. The author is very goo9d at showing the emotional impact of a scene, even if he’s not the best at facial expressions. (That hasn’t changed since Biscuit Hammer, really.) Addicting. – Sean Gaffney

Yowamushi Pedal, Vol. 8 | By Wataru Watanabe | Yen Press – Day two of the Inter-High continues. Although this volume features the triumphant return of Onoda and Tadokoro—which is great, and features Tadokoro crying manly tears of profound gratitude—most of the action has to do with the two teams currently battling it out for the lead: reigning champions Hakone Academy and Kyoto Fushimi, led by deceptive and ever-so-creepy Midousuji. We see how he converted the previously unified members of the Kyoto Fushimi team into his foot soldiers (and there are hints that a rebellion might come soon from within the ranks) and how he exploits the totally justified and sympathetic weakness of Hakone’s ace sprinter, Shinkai. Although readers surely want to see Shohoku take the victory, it’s neat that for this section at least, I find myself rooting for Hakone to smack Midousuji down decisively. Hopefully that will transpire in the next volume! – Michelle Smith

By: Michelle Smith

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

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tyrellosbornecontexualstudies · 4 years

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January assessment for contextual studies due Friday, between 1000 to 1500 words.(The understanding of why black artists fetishes over eastern art tropes and styles in their own work, leading to a lack of diversity in their art community, correlation to why westerners fetishes over easterners art.)

Though in the beginning of this journey, as well as the first week of discussing when hearing that we had to choose what we wanted to explore in the vast sea that art is, I had and still to this point in time, never truly had a clear idea of what I wanted to research or explore, I was never the the type of person that thought the exploration of a certain topic or portion of knowledge was something to make a grand gesture for. I believed that whatever thought or idea that I had for this topic, whether or not it was seen as an intellectual or interesting topic to dive into, that after a certain time amount of time the question would fade into the back of my mind, which I still feel like today. I only had this Idea due to resent actions that have occurred in my own life and because the choice of either something you like or hate were the options; and the ideas that I did like didn’t leave me that interested, writing about the things I hate, or to better say annoy me was the more reasonable choice. Which to say the topic, or broad idea I decide to investigate is, The understanding of why black artists fetishes over eastern art tropes and styles in their own work, leading to a lack of diversity in their art community, correlation to why westerners fetishes over easterners art. Over the past months I have gathered a number of examples from case studies, black artist and some responses and reasons to why artist of this generation do focus there work more towards turning characters from eastern culture, such as manga and anime and either changing aspects of the character, such as skin tone and hair and make them look like characters to represent current black culture. This is not to say that this practice is not done for western media as well, as I have seen this same practiced used for western characters from both artists in art and in the music industry as well.

One of my case studies explains why this current topic annoys me to such a certain extent, the artist Courey Rios, or known as crumsart on Instagram, uses the summary of what I discussed from the previous paragraph that, his art is only this, from the amount of art work I have seen of his. Crumsart artwork only goes towards turning characters from both western and eastern media, such as cartoons, comics, anime and manga into characters of black ethnicity, ranging from characters from Naruto, One piece and Hunter x Hunter, naming only a few to begin with. Now this is not to say that he started doing this in the beginning of his art career, but in the last couple of years, it seems that this trend how now become more of the norm in this society. What I hate about this comes from varied different angles, one being an insult to the artists of eastern culture, having known or not that their creations are being presented in this light, another would be that black culture lacks any creative ideas of their own, and that their “inspiration” is nothing more then people stealing ideas, slapping a new coat of paint on it and saying that its something new, something original. However I do know the positive if not reasons why what I have currently said can be seen as wrong, bias or if anything negative for both the black community and black art community.There is a lack of representation of black, and truthful other ethnicity’s in today’s modern time’s, and even compared to a decade ago, it has improved more so, but not by enough. Because of this lack of representation for young audiences today, It wouldn't be surprising for something like this to happen, people of different race of ethnicity would want to feel like they could be a super hero, or to be strong or brave, but whether or not they find that in a character that is of there race or not, there will still be people who yearn for it more. There also the matter of people doing this for their art, but because of it, ripples its effect onto different demographics and factions of this large community, such as cosplay.

Cosplay is a major faction to the community that enjoy animated and illustrated media, to the point where whole conventions take place to celebrate the culture, however because of the previous statement for how there is a lack of representation for the black community to use, it understandable that if there was a artist who changed of the ethnicity of a character you like and would like to cosplay as, it would mean a great deal to you and others, linking back to both this and how style in black artists art, a case study where both the style in his work is unique and not a blatant rip off would be the artist nikolasdraperivey on Instagram, a renown artist who has done amazing, aw inspiring work and a artist who represents the black community though the majority of his art. Nikolas is a interesting case study to have and to look into, not only does he respect and enjoy eastern culture and uses elements and techniques from eastern and western artists into his work, but he dosen’t do what some artists do and cope the style of one artist and go over it in a different shade of color, but he presents these ethnic changed characters with his own flare, not to disrespect the original character, and giving the opportunity for people of the black community to look at and even dress up as these characters. some characters that Nikolas has changed were characters from Final Fantasy 7, being Cloud, Tifa and Sephiroth have be changed slight but the aspethic the characters have still work, and pair very well to the changed ethnicity of the characters. But the reason why I like Nikolas work compared to Crum’s and others similar to his work is because the effort into respecting the source marital you have gather and inspired you and using it to make it your own thing, your own distinct style, that is what I want more arts of different races to do, or try to do, and to escape the generic standard that is in play today.

Now, to bring everything back with a case study that links to the majority of points I have been researching in a positive way would be the artist, Soroush Barazesh, or better know as Koteri.ink on Instagram. What I love about Koteri’s work is the level of detail put in only through his drawings, and the fact he only uses the basic tools to improve his already amazing work as well as being a black artist who love eastern culture, but portrays it in his own way and style, the complete opposite to Crum’s and artists like him who change nothing or stylise it in a backwards way, Koteri mention in his art book INK, that “ looking to find a style is something that’s on every artist’s mind...spent countless years search for one and it was absolutely pointless.”

From what I have discovered through looking into this topic, there is still a large range of information I haven't dug further into, I have seen a large amount of artist doing this more towards the bad then good, But I can say for when I do find good ones, they take my breath away, the amount of creativity, diversity and imagination in those artists inspire me to further improve in the ways that will benefit me in the future, instead of something I fear will continue to be the norm for right now. There were a lot of pro’s and con’s for what I was researching and that reason of knowing that confrontation between the two is very easy to see and off putting for me to write about, but I do believe that this is a topic needed to be talked up about, instead of leaving it where it is in today art community, but there is still more I can look into.

https://www.biography.com/news/jean-michael-basquiat-black-artists

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_fetishism

https://www.jstor.org/stable/466835?seq=1

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/d62f/f6eb6025b29ab22dddf60ee0bfbf5bea2bda.pdf

https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/aup/necsus/2014/00000003/00000001/art00006

https://necsus-ejms.org/representation-misrepresentation-british-media-japanese-popular-culture/

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cattidy · 6 years

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Working Digitally

My experience drawing comics has mostly been digital. I used Illustrator and Photoshop to create my previous project, and as a graphic designer I know the ins and outs of both programs.

Clip Studio was a whole new ballgame. Although very similar to Adobe products, I still had to take a day just to learn the layout of this new program. I ended up watching and reading several tutorials to learn techniques different artists used when utilizing this program. I had to learn and create brushes that I liked for the different processes. Phil’s tutorial also helped A LOT. And after using it for awhile, I realized how helpful it is for certain aspects of working with comics digitally - namely, with creating frames.

But I also had to get the hang of drawing digitally again. The last time I had done a lot of artwork on the computer was in undergrad a few years ago. As the in-house illustrator for the college newspaper, I was drawing several completely digital illustrations every week. So, my body and mind were acclimated to drawing this way. But that was several years ago.

After watching all the tutorials to learn Clip Studio, I had to spend ANOTHER day or two just getting used to using the tablet. But soon, the muscle memory kicked in and I was back to feeling comfortable on the tablet.

I still did a lot of experimentation with creating brushes for my different layers. I used a rough pencil for my rough drawings, a drafting pencil for detailed drawings, and then the G-pen for most of the inking. I also experimented with different ways of shading - should I used lines, thick black areas, etc? - with certain elements of the art like trees (there’s another post dedicated to that!) On top of that, some of my initial thumbnails I changed while working in the program - maybe I changed a particular angle, or zoomed out on a certain scene. One of the difficulties was keeping the pen size consistent throughout the comic. It can definitely be more difficult than you might think.

I’m also a jumper. Since I’m making the comic in it’s entirety - thumbnails, pencils, ink, color, lettering - I’m very prone to jumping around from page to page working on different panels at different stage. So sometimes, if I’m tired of inking trees, I’ll jump to a different page and start flatting some characters. The only problem with this is that it takes me a while to actually complete a page, because I’m jumping around so much. I don’t know if this is a problem yet. But it’s definitely something to consider.

But all in all, I’m glad to be working digitally again. It’s been a while. And I enjoyed using Clip Studio alot. I’m currently using the trial version but I am definitely going to buy it in the future.

#comics #comics by cass #comic in progress #digital comics #drawing digital #clip studio

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comicsbeat · 6 years

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Yet more amazing comics debuting at tomorrow’ Comic Arts Brooklyn show!

Roopert August Lipp Revival House 56 pages, 8.5″ X 11″ 2 color offset $10

The long-awaited debut by comics virtuoso, August Lipp. Perhaps you’ve been fortunate to see glimpses of his work in esteemed anthologies such as Smoke Signals, for example. Now, one can evince the full dexterity of his talent with the exuberant saga, Roopert. Roopert is excited to return to school after a summer of splendid adventures! His best chums will all be there: Clyve the shy badger, Benji the other, slightly shorter bear, Hannah the ballsy fox, Timothy the average frog, Clarissa the dentally-advantaged crocodile and many more. Hey, this school is a real ZOO! What kind of antics will they get up to when the bell rings and Miss Julienne the human’s 6th grade class begins? Irreverence and beastly nature are masked by overzealous displays of etiquette as the child animals struggle for agency in the face of less-than-responsible authority figures. Follow along as this comic meanders through Roopert’s first action-packed day of middle school! Adult supervision recommended. published by Revival House Press!

Hot Dog Beach #4 by Lale Westvind

High octane slapstick adventure starring Mop and Fuzz, two ding dongs trying to make a buck on a strange gig that never ends.

“BIG BONERZ: A Street Dawgz Comic Collection” by Lizz Lunney

This experimental comic tells the story of a group of canines that tackle depression, drug addiction and anger problems whilst roaming the streets and protecting their cardboard box home from outsiders. Lunney explores themes of fame/celebrity, mental health problems, class struggle, addiction and more through a pack of homeless street dogs. Lots of jokes! Lots of bones! Published by Birdcage Bottom Books 5.25″ x 7.5″, 44 pages. $7 Two-color risograph cover with b+w interior

The Loud Atlas

By Peter + Maria Hoey

Our new accordion fold book takes a surreal and funny look at the noisy world imagined by the Italian Futurists. Using the style of Marinetti and the rhyming pattern of Dr. Seuss. 8 panels and 45” inches long. Screen printed in 2 colors and hand bound on black book board in an edition of 50.

DOMINO BOOKS

At CAB, we are proud to debut our ninth publication, BOOK OF DAZE by E.A. Bethea. Swing by table M3 to check it out—we will also have dozens and dozens of rare zines and art books available, many of them making their debut at the show.

If you can’t make it to CAB, BOOK OF DAZE is available for pre-order now through our online shop.

Book of Daze by E.A. Bethea. $6, 40 pages. Color cover, black and white interior, printed on newsprint.

“I first discovered Bethea’s stuff almost twenty years ago, she is one of the people whose work made me finally commit to comics as my medium of choice. With her barbed, nervous line and blunt writing style, she’s like a Duchampian voice calling for comics revolt. Her comics call out to us that no matter how damaged or how much of an outsider someone is, comics is our birthright.” -Josh Bayer, author of Theth

Book of Daze by E.A. Bethea is the kind of book DOMINO exists to publish. I first found Bethea’s work lying around an apartment I was visiting. I picked it up and from that moment on, have never forgotten it. As I began to read her dense pages, I was overwhelmed by the straightforward emotional statements and startlingly precise mind behind the sequences. In one moment, Bethea’s comics would acknowledge pain and disappointment, then turn to explain it away or justify things, only to finally confront the problem from a new angle. On the next page, simple pleasures became the focus, romantic notions embraced. Later on in the book cynical approaches to anything and everything were duly considered. All of this managed to congeal as Bethea kept another strong cloud hanging over it all: a refusal to shy away from an unashamed embrace of the full panorama of life.

Bethea, a simple interpretation might offer, chronicles the web of living in the world with a heart and a mind sometimes at odds and sometimes simpatico. But Bethea gives us something more complex: at times, the work feels dead-pan as it shifts from exhilaration to resignation without a change in visual presentation, but it’s here where we have a guide to the heart of Bethea’s project. The often uniform nature of the pages and the highly non-uniform nature of what is contained within become a catalog of days or weeks or years. One page offers a subdued period in life, while the next (seemingly) similar page offers a day full of regret. Bethea talks about her work relating to cinema, specifically calling attention to what happens between one of her panels and the next. The shifts in emotion and carefully chosen images alongside highly precise language feel like walking into a film where the entire crew–from director to actor to gaffer—united in one mind to make something highly exquisite.

The Unquotable Trump by R. SIkoryak (Drawn and Quarterly)

R. Sikoryak frames Trump and his declarations as the words and actions of the most notable villains and antagonists in comic book history.

The House of Dickinson by R. Sikoryak (self published)

This mini combines the poetry of Emily Dickinson with the atmosphere of 1950’s horror comics.

Futile Comics #6 Mike Centeno

A 16 page look at a day in the life of a woman who deals with subway abuse, retail hijinx, and gym bros until she reaches the breaking point and has no energy left to keep all the black goop of rage inside of her.

Precious Little Lives By Joe Garber

This new American classic follows the melodramatic tragedies of a Tap n’ Scat Jazzist just trying to make her way in the world with a head full of dreams and a pocket full of toxic-male assholes.

Generous Consolation Conor Stechschulte In consolation for not having the third volume of Generous Bosom ready in time for CAB, this zine offers a preview of selected images from that book. Available on its own or for free with a preorder of GB3.

TRUMPTRUMP Volume 1: nomination to inauguration

by Warren Craghead III

Every day, Warren Craghead draws and shares grotesque portraits of Donald Trump and his minions. TRUMPTRUMP Volume 1 collects the first six months of these daily drawings with context and commentary, from when Trump accepted the Republican nomination for president on July 21, 2016 until his inauguration on January 20, 2017. — Retrofit Comics

Bestiary by Alden Viguilla

A collection of mythical beasts risographed in blue and gold.

Final form #1 By Craig Bowers

A fantasy about two friends trying to make quick cash so they can go travel the world and two frogs slacking on the job.

The 12 Days of Christmas

Caitlin Keegan

The 12 days of Christmas, illustrated. A holiday zine that you can color (or not.)

Twin Peaks poster

Caitlin Keegan

12×18″ poster featuring sketchbook drawings of characters from season 3.

Bronze Enamel Sun Pin

Caitlin Keegan

Bronze + enamel pin with reversible sun face (1.125″)

I’ll also have copies of The Illuminated Tarot, which came out in April.

So What? Press Tales of the Night Watchman LLC

www.sowhatpress.com

Tales of the Night Watchman is the story of Nora, a blogger stuck working a dead end job in coffee, and her roommate, Charlie, who happens to be possessed (in the nicest way possible) by a spectral detective called The Night Watchman. Baristas by day, heroes by night, Nora and Charlie answer the call to fight the city’s never-ending flux of supernatural activity.

#gallery-0-6 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-6 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-0-6 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-6 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Issue synopsis:

The Gowanus Golem is back! In this follow up to one of the series’ most popular tales, Brooklyn’s most toxic monster is after a couple thugs who are responsible for the death of a young boy. There’s only one problem: To stop him, The Night Watchman must protect one of the killers. Oh, and did we mention it’s also a Christmas special? Written by Dave Kelly Artwork by Brett Hobson Colors by Clare DeZutti Cover by Tim Hamilton

Over Time, Every Section Was Allowed To Grow Accordingly Aaron Cockle, New York Is For Sale, Table J2

It’s part 1 of a 2-part Franz Kafka fan comic, 32 pages

Annie Mok Loves Videogames by Annie Mok

A collection of comics, essays, and an interview, all about an abiding love and critique of games such as The Legend of Zelda, Shenmue, Sonic, and others. Annie Mok freelances for Rookie Mag, The Comics Journal, The Establishment, and others, and now makes games such as The Haunted Nintendo.

Keep Going Greg Kletsel

32 page Risograph zine inspired by the phrase “keep going”.

Animation: Dansemorphia (on custom silicone USB’s !) Zine: Frame Drain –

Roya Haroun

blurb- Danse! Morph! Ya!

Parasite Wanderer By Connor McCann

A girl wakes up with a parasite attached to her face and the two embark on a bombastic and poetic 16 page adventure.

People of Oakland Asuka Ohsawa

When I moved from Brooklyn to Oakland in 2014, in an attempt to get to know my new environment, I got into the habit of staring at people who caught my attention, memorizing their facial features, and drawing them at home. The book is a collection of some of those sketches.

Somewhere, Sometime Asuka Ohsawa

After my dad passed away in 2016, I traveled to my childhood home in Japan often and dug through his material possessions. This experience triggered an avalanche of childhood memories that I hadn’t thought of for so many years. I decided to piece together bits and pieces of these memories in this book.

Slasher #5 by Charles Forsman

It’s all been leading to this. The final issue of Charles Forsman’s exploration into violence and sexuality. After the events of issue four, Christine lets herself indulge for the last time. From the creator of the E4/Netflix series The End of the F***ing World.

Live at the Grelman: #4 Amy Magick By Vinnie Neuberg, AT Pratt, and Derek Timm-Brock

Live at the Grelman is a collaborative storytelling stand-up comedy comic strip. All strips are written and drawn in the order that they appear and nothing is preplanned. This issue features guest strips by Drew Miller, Disa Wallander, Lane Graff, Max Huffman, Kelsey Wroten, Haejin Park, Mikey Karpiel, and Michael Furler. 40pp

Touch By Vinnie Neuberg

A new mini-comic about an online date gone awry in a Virtual Reality world. Each comic comes with a foldout poster. 24pp

False Advertising By Dylan Balliett

False Advertising is a collection of recent illustrations, comic strips, and single panel gag comics by Dylan Balliett.

The Fishes’ Ball By Priscilla Boatwright

A locket. A fisherman. A steed. The Fishes’ Ball is a short tale about a man who descends to the bottom of a lake in search of his beloved.

CAB 2017 Debuts Part Two: More exciting comics to fill your brains and shelves Yet more amazing comics debuting at tomorrow' Comic Arts Brooklyn show! Roopert August Lipp Revival House…

#CAB 2017 #Debuts #News #Top News

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nofomoartworld · 7 years

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Hyperallergic: What Lies Beneath: Carl D’Alvia’s Buried Meanings

Carl D’Alvia, “The End Is…,” (2007), resin and paint, 27 x 20 x 28 inches (courtesy Regina Rex)

I laughed out loud the first time I saw a sculpture by Carl D’Alvia. On a pedestal sat a forlorn, four-legged creature (a kind of rodent/hominid hybrid) slouching on his haunches. Made of cast resin, the little guy had a thick coat of mousey-brown fur the diameter of spaghetti, which covered his face (including eye sockets), hands, feet, tail — and even the rectangular sign, stuck on the end of an equally furry pole, that he wielded, weakly, in his right hand.

It is titled “The End Is…” (2007), and I laughed again when I saw it at Regina Rex, where it presides over Endless, an exhibition of D’Alvia’s work of the last several years. More of Endless — three new works — is at Nathalie Karg Gallery. This knockout, two-venue show — D’Alvia’s first solo outing in New York since 2013 — demonstrates the absurdist humor, masterful craftsmanship, and elliptical thinking of an artist for whom working at apparent cross-purposes is an end in itself: embracing irresolution, the banalities of existence combine to form imponderable conundrums.

Covering things with the texture of fur (or visually related surface treatments, such as hair, grass, scales…) has been a go-to strategy for D’Alvia for some time now.

Carl D’Alvia, “Robot” (2007), bronze, 21 x 36 x 36 inches (courtesy Regina Rex)

In many cases, the thing itself resists recognition, or suggests several things at once. At Regina Rex is “Robot” (2007, bronze), which looks like a small, boxy vehicle with one mechanical arm that, having crumpled to the floor some time ago, is now just a heap of junk overtaken by moss or crabgrass. But emerging from the useless wheels and belts, eclipsing this suggestion of time having passed, is a humanoid face, with jug-handle ears and a wide, urgent grimace.

The title of “4:20” (2012, painted resin) is a reference to smoking pot, and sure enough under all that purple sculpted hair there’s the same weird rodent/hominid guy, taking a hit off an enormous bong, which emits a (similarly hirsute) purple cloud of smoke. Another puff appears in “Puff” (2013, painted resin), but this is otherwise one of those inscrutable pieces that, for me, defies rational comprehension: an elongated wedge protruding between a pair of rubbery, cartoon-like legs, bent at the knee. Everything is covered with a pattern of little leaves. (It could be that I just don’t know enough about the varieties of bong design.) The sculpture is slightly too big for the pedestal, a nice touch.

Carl D’Alvia, “4:20” (2012), resin and paint, 18 x 8 x 18 inches (courtesy Regina Rex)

The 34-item checklist at Regina Rex is retrospective in scope, reaching back to 2001. A major treat is the broad selection of the artist’s exquisite drawings, many of which are in ink or ballpoint pen. “Carburetor” (2005) is an “exploded view” of that device, apparently appropriated from an auto parts manual. Devoid of labels, the unidentified components swarm in formation, floating in pictorial space. This unassuming little work implies that an unintentional vernacular surrealism, by means of which the familiar is made strange, fuels D’Alvia’s larger project.

“Engine” (2005), a drawing of a stripped-down 12-cylinder engine set on end, looks like a fetish object from a patriarchal, power-obsessed civilization. (Hmm.) Other renderings display curious uses of familiar materials, such as a box made of wood slats (“Untitled,” 2016) with a 45-degree bend at the middle, designed to hold — well, who knows what? (“Puff,” maybe?)

Carl D’Alvia, “Puff” (2013), resin and paint, 16 x 31 x 11 inches (courtesy Regina Rex)

D’Alvia’s drawings of his sculptures, such as “Eagle” (2015), apply a chiaroscuro treatment, straight out of Caravaggio or 1940s film noir, to these often comical objects, plunging them into incongruously melodramatic raking light and deep shadows. It is as if the artist wanted to see what one of his characters would do, what it would become, in an unfamiliar situation. The source sculpture for “Eagle” resembles an out-of-shape Maltese Falcon with a toucan’s enormous beak, tipped slightly backward on its base; it’s hard to tell if the creature is recoiling in terror from the inky void, or just dozing off.

Carl D’Alvia, “Eagle” (2015), ballpoint pen on paper, 22 x 30 inches (courtesy Regina Rex)

Though he wears his scholarship lightly, D’Alvia is adept at the semaphores of 20th-century sculpture. One fairly obvious reference: actual fur is of course prominent in historical Surrealism’s best-known sculpture, Meret Oppenheim’s 1936 “Object (The Luncheon in Fur)” — a teacup, saucer and spoon lined with the stuff. (Fun fact: it’s Chinese gazelle.)

“Worm” (2014), a long, rectangular form, segmented and hairy-looking, holds its head-end erect, alert. Despite its right-angled infrastructure, the work is as animate-seeming as its title suggests and recalls Tony Smith’s penchant for metaphor disguised as Minimalism. (‘Literalist’ art’s Trojan Horse?) A nearby drawing, possibly hypothetical, of a similar but much smaller, single-segment work, is titled “Kiki” (2001).

Carl D’Alvia, “The Birds” (2016), bronze, five pieces 18 x 50 x 6 inches (courtesy Regina Rex)

Perched on a plinth, “The Birds” (2016) consists of five bronzes about six inches high, abstract but distinctly avian in character. Four of them continue in D’Alvia’s modus operandi of ornamenting an essential underlying form with obsessively detailed (in this case, feathery) surfaces; in contrast, the central piece is smooth, burnished to a high sheen. The latter channels Constantin Brancusi’s “Bird in Space” (1923) and “Mademoiselle Pogany II” (1925), with a nod to “Princess X” (1916) for good measure.

The Romanian master is the primary link between the two installations. Of the three works at Nathalie Karg, the largest by far is “Endless” (2016, resin and aluminum) which, shoehorned into the gallery’s far-from-cramped space, is endlessly frustrating to photograph. That’s not only because of its scale, which is better suited to an outdoor site, but because the camera can’t really deal with the work’s elongated, rhomboid volumes with their optically confounding angles.

But in person, it’s a blast. It refers, of course, to one or more of Brancusi’s “Endless Column” variants. (The public, 30-meter-long version in Târgu Jiu was erected in 1938, but Brancusi made the first prototype at least twenty years earlier.) Flat on the floor rather than upright, it stretches to almost 60 feet in length. Three feet high, it is a series of discrete rhomboids — imagine a cube stretched at opposing corners, so that every side is a parallelogram.

Carl D’Alvia, “Endless” (detail) (2016), cast resin over aluminum armature, 8 rhombus sculptures (each 36 x 87 x 38 inches), 2 half rhombus sculptures (each 36 x 57 x 38 inches)

“Endless” has eight such sections, plus a half-rhomboid at each extremity. (You can imagine the beginning picking up where the end leaves off, like Finnegans Wake.) These elements are aligned corner-to-corner, so that the acute angles are just a few inches apart. They are physically discontinuous, but the gaps between the volumes are too narrow and steeply angled to allow you to pass through easily. You have to walk around “Endless” to really see it; outdoors, I expect, its resemblance to a barrier would be less conspicuous.

Carl D’Alvia, “Endless” (detail) (2016)

The funny thing is that it’s made of “boards” of cast resin (from clay originals) marked by deep wood grain and knots, here and there, that look a whole lot like eyes. The boards are obviously faux, once you look closely, but the many screw heads dotting the surface are real — surprise! — and attach to an aluminum armature. Gallery information has it that every element is unique because, while the constituent boards are themselves multiples, they are assembled differently in each section.

Carl D’Alvia, “Lith” (2016), aluminum, 96 x 48 x 31 inches

Eight feet high, smooth of surface, and painted a semi-gloss black, “Lith” (2016, aluminum) is in the spirit of the Modernist, public-scale, vaguely anthropomorphic sculpture of Clement Meadmore, who gave elongated geometrical volumes — typically square in cross-section — all manner of twists, curves, and curls. “Celestial” (2016), an eight-foot-diameter circle of nearly 50 sections of unglazed black earthenware extruded in rope-like thicknesses, recalls Richard Long’s floor-based disks made of shards and chunks of slate.

“Endless” takes center stage, though, and seems the most conceptually expansive. Brancusi designed his masterpiece in tribute to fallen Romanian soldiers who defended Târgu Jiu against the advance of German forces in WW1. Might the barrier-like “Endless” refers to a certain proposed border wall, and the seemingly infinite xenophobia that prompted it? Farfetched, maybe, but these days, an artwork’s implications, however latent they may be, migrate from the margins to the center of this viewer’s interpretive imagination. Forms attract associations like iron filings to a magnet. Walls and barricades, like the color orange and the word “nasty,” signify differently than they did just a year ago.

Carl D’Alvia, “Celestial” (2016), unglazed black earthenware, 81 x 81 inches

You don’t have to be a fan of affect theory (I’m not) to be aware that unintentional or supplemental meanings accrue to the reading of an artwork according to contexts, both spatial and temporal, and contribute to the viewer’s emotional response to it. Absent explicit narrative or other interpretive guides, content can be fickle, changing with the daily headlines. What we see depends on what we see with — the cognitive mechanisms we bring into the gallery. Looking at “Endless,” you’re on one side, or you’re on the other. You can’t pass easily between the gaps, but if you really wanted to, you could. “Endless” may be difficult to breach, but not impossible.

Carl D’Alvia: Endless continues at Regina Rex (221 Madison St, Lower East Side, Manhattan) and Nathalie Karg Gallery (291 Grand Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan) through February 19.

The post What Lies Beneath: Carl D’Alvia’s Buried Meanings appeared first on Hyperallergic.

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