Monday, 16 September 2024

#259: Blank Space (Entry for the Faber / Observer / Comica Graphic Short Story Competition)

Page One The page is divided into 3 rows of 3 boxes. Row 1, Box 1: Large writing fills the box with the title and credits: Blank Space, by James Atkinson and [the artist’s name]. Row 1, Box 2: A view of the Tate Modern from the Thames, people walking by and walking toward the entrances. Row 1, Box 3: People walking down the ramp to the Turbine Hall, having just entered the Tate Modern.  Row 2, Box 1: A man is seen getting onto the escalator by the sculpture Love by Robert Indiana. Row 2, Box 2: Man walking toward the entrance to the In the Studio galleries on the 2nd Floor.  Row 2, Box 3: Man walks through the Studio Practice room. Row 3, Box 1: Man walks into the International Surrealism room. Row 3, Box 2: Man seen from the corner, with the International Surrealism room and fellow visitors behind looking at other artworks while he stares directly at the viewer. Row 3, Box 3: Man stands in the corner of the room, this time seen from behind and we can see that he is looking into an empty corner between Deification of a Soldier by Kikuji Yamashita and Birth by Jackson Pollock. Across the bottom of the box there is text reading: I think about blank spaces a lot.
Page Two The page is divided into two halves. The top half is divided into three boxes. Box 1: Text at the top of the box reads: I once had a conversation with a book. A picture below shows a man on the toilet reading The Observer Book of Art.   Box 2: Text at the top of the box reads:  It told me… conceptual art does not need to be seen to be understood.  A picture below shows a person reading a book and from their head a thought bubble appears, inside which is Joseph Kosuth’s One and Three Chairs: a chair pictured against a wall, accompanied by a lifesize photo of that chair in the same place on the wall to its right and a blown-up dictionary definition of the word “chair” on the other side.  Box 3: Text at the top of the box reads: I asked it..  Below is a picture of a man, seen from the side, holding a book out in front of his face.  A speech bubble coming from the man reads: Then does the artwork need to exist? Below these three boxes, and acting as a divider between the two halves of the page, is a small box in the centre of the page in which is the text: I received no reply.  The bottom half of the page is divided into two boxes.  Box 1: Text at the top of the box reads: But I started to think… Below are various descriptions of items in zig-zag bubbles, written in marker pen: an apple, a self-portrait but it’s your favourite snack, a pen called potential energy, a journal containing explanations in a glass case, sculptures of your heroes. Box 2: Text at the top of the box reads: And I thought: Can we create art that is only in the imagination, offering each and every viewer their own unique experience? Below is a picture of a group of people imagining different but similar things.
Page Three. The page is divided into three rows. The first row has a section containing text that goes across the whole page.  Below are two pictures. The text reads: And I remembered John Cage and thought about silence.  I wondered if there was an equivalent in art and thought about a blank space on a gallery wall.  With a title.  I decided I wanted to add a small label to the wall of the Tate and, in doing so, add an artwork to a display by letting imaginations unfurl.  Picture 1: An orchestra poised to play, the conductor holding their baton aloft. Picture 2: A crowd of people staring at a completely blank wall. The second row is divided into three boxes. Row 2, Box 1: A picture of someone at a desk working, viewed from behind.  Text below reads: So I made it.  Row 2, Box 2: A picture of a man staring into the corner of the International Surrealism room at the Tate Modern, seen from behind.  Text below reads: And here I am.  Row 2, Box 3: A picture of a man staring into the corner of the International Surrealism room at the Tate Modern, seen from the front.  Text below reads: And I start to re-think.  The third row is divided into three boxes. Row 3, Box 1: Text at the top of the box reads: Of vandalism and the police. Below is a picture of a man being taken away by the police. Row 3, Box 2: Text at the top of the box reads: Of being misunderstood, of laughter. Below is a picture of a man being pointed and laughed at. Row 3, Box 3: Text at the top of the box reads: And I pause… The rest of the box is blank.
Page Four: The page consists of one row of three boxes then one box taking up the rest of the page. Box 1: A picture of a man staring into the corner of the International Surrealism room at the Tate Modern, seen from the front. Box 2: A picture of a man in the corner of the International Surrealism room at the Tate Modern.  Seen from behind, he is leaning forward towards the wall with a piece of card in his outstretched hand. Box 3: A picture of a man walking away and out of the International Surrealism room at the Tate Modern.   Rest of page: A picture showing a blank piece of wall in the corner of the International Surrealism room at the Tate Modern.  On the right can be seen the far left of Birth by Jackson Pollock and, on the left, the corner of the room.  All the rest is the blank wall except for an oblong of card in the bottom right.  On it printed text reads: James Atkinson born 1981 #260: Bring your dreams into the day (A space for you to imagine your own art) 2024 Empty gallery wall and your imagination

The winner and runner-up have now been announced, so above is what I printed out and entered as the first physical Imaginary Comic.

Initial post:

Has been entered and will appear here when the winners are anounced.

Previous attempts at Imaginary Comics:

#026: If I was brave enough

#137: A Child’s First Visit to a Gallery


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