Hi everyone!

Okay, we are into the part of the term where things start going fast.  Over this next month your focus will be on completing all of your comic book, attending the last class sessions, socializing more, and wrapping up your Achievements.

Keep your checklists up to date with your progress.  You need to be focused on checking off ALL the first page items next week.  Remember comics are due Friday, November 17th.

Important updates for the next couple of weeks:

1)  Art Ducko is Friday (Nov. 3rd) at 5:00pm in the EMU 305.  Mazzy is organizing a get together around attending this event.

2) Remember if you have not already to attend your 1:1 with Robert.  These meetings are required and very important check ins where we will discuss printing your comics and your progress towards passing this class.

3) Next class (Nov. 7th) Mazzy will be going over your Two-Year Plans.  Remember going through this activity is a required Achievement.  We will also have studio time to work on the comics.

4) Next Wednesday, November 8th @ 6:00 is the Isaac Julien artist talk and reception.  Me and Mazzy will be attending this event.  We were asked by the Museum to RSVP and we told them that we would be bringing students from the class.  If you attend the talk that is an ‘Academic’ and if you attend the reception afterwards at the Museum that is a ‘Social’.

5) Nov. 14th’s class session will focus on a reflection activity that will be considered for the “Reflection Master” sub-achievement.  We will also have studio time for you to finalize your comic books.

6) November 17th is the comic book due date, Robert will be organizing a pizza lunch at 11:00-12:30 that Friday (more information coming soon).

7) Keep your eye out for more out of class events that Mazzy will be organizing.  It is required to get these Achievements done AND these out of class events are really important opportunities to meet people in this FIG and network as college students (a key reason one goes to college is to meet a wide variety of new people).

If you have any questions let us know!

Best,

Robert and Mazzy

Not really THE “creature” but yes a witch ghost cat creature

Robert’s 2023 Halloween

Thank you everyone for your discussion this last week in class.  We appreciate all the creative work you are putting into your comic books!  Looking forward to seeing the next stages of your work next week!

Again our next class we will be opening up for studio time and having some Halloween time together!

Keep looking out for ‘social’ and ‘academic’ opportunities to fulfill your ‘social’ Achievement, which is required to pass the class.

We plan to send updated Achievement progress reports to each of you early next week.

Important Note:  Your 1:1s with Robert are starting next week.  For this meeting:

1. Meet with me at my office in PLC 58 (Prince Lucien Campbell Hall).  My office is on the lowest level of PLC, and in the hallway behind the Faculty Canvas Support Services in room 68 and the PLC 72 classroom (look for the green and yellow sign, and signs pointing to PLC 72).  You are welcome to check in at the support desk in room 68, they can point you to my office.
2. Bring your comic books, for I want to check in on your progress and it is important to see your planned formatting to take notes for the printing/scanning of your work.
3. Be ready to talk about how things are going in this class and your first term at the UO.
4. Bring in any questions you have for me.

See you all next week!  Stay safe!  Stay warm!

Best,

Robert and Mazzy

True Story of Arashi from Osaka (Nami no Arashi jitsuroku banashi), UTAGAWA Hiroshige 3 (Shigemasa) 歌川広重三代目(重政), Japanese print, 1874

Welcome to almost mid-term time!

Hope everyone had a nice time visiting the Museum.  It was really nice to have Professor Freedman join us!  Her photos are below!

It was a nice time to get out of the classroom and enjoy an excellent tour of the Museum, and even have a behind the scenes feeling to it all with us being the only ones there!  Again remember it is free to all students!

Some amazing works of art at the Museum and we highly recommend going back and taking a longer look at the works on display.  You can always take a sketchpad and a pencil and use the works on display as inspiration.  And very much recommend viewing the Lessons of the Hour video installation for its entire duration, as we talked about it is an amazing work that plays with cultural and historical aspects, components of time and space, and crosses across to all kinds of different mediums from film and video production to comic books and photography.

Lessons of the Hour, Isaac Julien, installation view, McEvoy Foundation for the Arts, San Francisco, 2020. Photo credit Henrik Kam

Speaking of the installation as mentioned by Alexis the artist is coming to campus (we are working on creating an ‘Academic’ meet up for this event):

Wednesday, November 8
6 p.m. (reception and viewing to follow at JSMA)
Location: PLC 180

For next week:

1.  Bring your supplies for more drawing time, and also please bring your My Visual Story Creative Journal Two: Oct 10th/Oct 17th  and Comic Book Project Checklist, we will check in individually with you about where you are at with your projects.  If you are feeling stuck in the process do NOT worry, that can be normal for this time of the term so if you are stuck please be ready for us to help you along!
2. Keep an eye out for announcements and communication from Mazzy about upcoming out of class events.
3. Be ready also for signing up for 1:1 meetings with Robert.  There will be a sign up sheet for this available at class, so please bring your calendars.

Best,

Robert and Mazzy

Hi everyone!

We enjoyed Tuesday’s discussion about the power of images and comic books, and thinking about the ways in which comic books use visuals to tell powerful stories and convey important cultural and historical messages.

Gojira (1954)

Please continue to explore these ideas as you work on your comic projects.  Consider creating visuals that go beyond just a simple surface level representation.  Like the original Godzilla (Gojira, 1954) and what might seem simple on the surface can represent something much deeper (WW2 trauma, atomic bombings, and fire bombing death and destruction).  Again this is a class where you as the artists can experiment with this creativity!

Updates for the upcoming week and next week’s class:

1) Reminder we will be having a tour of the UO Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art during our class time next week.  Mazzy will meet up with everyone at the classroom and walk over with you.  When visiting the Museum think about the discussion we had this week, and look at the works of art in the Museum for the ways in which their imagery and visuals carry complex historical and cultural meanings.  Think also about challenge we discussed of losing the original artistic intent when artists put their work out to the public.

2) As part of the Museum visit please review their Visitor Guidelines.

3) Social event meet up at the ASUO Street Faire this Friday at 11:00am.

As always if you have questions please reach out to us!

Best,

Robert and Mazzy

Hi everyone!

Week two down!  We enjoyed all your work on the posters for the different UO Libraries around campus, and are very impressed with everyone’s comic book progress.

Keep working on the comics and keeping up to date with your checklist.  We don’t have specific assignments for this upcoming week for your work on the comics besides keep making forward progress.

Some updates before we meet again next Tuesday:

1) Reminder that the UO “Get Explicit” sessions are happening this weekend.  This is a mandatory program for all incoming students, more information can be found on this Dean of Students Get Explicit 101 page (opens in new tab or window).

2) Upcoming social with the other ENG 280 FIG this Sunday @ 2:00!  For more details see Mazzy’s announcements in the Canvas site.

3) Again we will be sending your Achievement status sometime next week to give you the first glimpse of your progress in the course.

For next week:

1) Be ready to come to class and discuss the following topics: ‘the power of images through time and culture’ and “why use comics as an activist medium?”  and overall “why study and take comics seriously?”

2) Studio time will be a big part of the class time next week so again please bring in your art materials to keep moving forward on your comic work.

3) In preparation for our Museum of Art visit in Week 4 (Oct 17th) please review this “Visitor Guidelines” document (we’ll briefly talk about the visit during our next week’s class).

See you all next week!

Robert and Mazzy