Monday, August 27, 2012

Comic Book on Consciousness Kickstarter Campaign

This is a press release from Wisconson Public Radio.    This includes a new comic illustrated by Portland artists Natalie Nourigat.   
COMIC BOOK ON CONsCIOUSNESS Kickstarter Campaign
Exploring the Science of Consciousness – In Radio Series and Comic Book

(Madison, WI)  The mystery of consciousness -- what it is, where it comes from, how it works -- is like a big ball of string.  Pull one end and as it unravels, one question leads to another. This fall To the Best of Our Knowledge, Wisconsin Public Radio’s (WPR) nationally-syndicated program of ideas, plans to publish a comic book on consciousness.

Written by Jim Ottaviani and illustrated by Natalie Nourigat, the book will be a companion to a special six-part radio series exploring the frontiers of science and philosophy.  Both the comic book and the radio series are titled “Meet Your Mind: A User’s Guide to the Science of Consciousness.” 

The questions of consciousness are so big – and often so mind-boggling – that the To the Best of Our Knowledge decided a comic book would be a great way to make the subject more accessible. Wisconsin Public radio is in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign to cover the costs of the book.

According to Steve Paulson, Executive Producer for To the Best of Our Knowledge, the production team wanted to try something entirely new.  “A comic book about consciousness?  The idea seemed so crazy... so intriguing... so perfect,” said Steve Paulson “Not just a comic book as a clever gimmick, but as an imaginative story using illustrations to explore some of the deepest questions in science.” A web version of the comic book will be featured on the show’s website and a limited number of copies will be printed.

Paulson and his team are interviewing some of the most respected names in neuroscience, including Oliver Sacks and UW-Madison’s Dr. Richard Davidson, for the radio series.  Although the Peabody Award-winning producers were used to creating compelling radio, they had no experience with comic books.  “We’re very exacting when we produce our radio program,” noted Paulson, “but for the comic book, we needed outside help.” 

Jim Ottaviani has developed a reputation for creative and educational works like “Two-Fisted Science:  Stories About Scientists,” agreed to pen the story with artist Natalie Nourigat (A Boy and a Girl) providing illustrations.  “We are really thrilled to be working with such gifted artists,” added Paulson.  “They bring their own perspective to our shared goal of making the science of consciousness both fun and compelling.”

As the group thought about ways to fund the project, crowd-funding website Kickstarter.com seemed like a natural fit.  The site helps start-ups and creative projects raise funds through online videos and promotion.  The catch is that the funds must be raised in 30 days or less. WPR, which has nearly a third of its $15,000 project budget, has until 7:00 AM on Saturday September 1 to meet its goal.

“This is an exciting experiment for us,” noted WPR Development Director Mary Kay Dadisman.  “We’ve had a great response so far and we’re learning a lot about both the benefits and challenges of using a service like Kickstarter.” Like most groups on the site, WPR produced a short pitch video about their project and is offering incentives for project investors. 

According to Paulson, the decision to support the comic book through Kickstarter just made sense.  “As public radio producers, we feel a real sense of connection and responsibility toward our listeners, members and donors,” he said.  “Turning to the internet to fund this comic book felt like a natural extension of that relationship – a chance to make the public a partner in this one-of-a-kind creative endeavor.”  

About Wisconsin Public Radio
Wisconsin Public Radio is a service of the University of Wisconsin Extension, the Educational Communications Board and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  For more than 90 years, WPR has served the people of Wisconsin with quality news, classical music, and talk radio programming.  Listen, learn more and donate online at:  www.wpr.org.

09/08 - World within World Show

---Press Release from Floating Worlds Comics


This September we are proud to host an art exhibit and book release party with one of our favorite local artists, Julia Gfrörer. The month long art exhibit will include Julia’s original comic pages and illustrations.
Julia will also debut her latest comic, the first chapter of Black Is The Color. This new book is about cruelty, sarcasm, loneliness, gay sailors, lactating mermaids, and salty fluids of all kinds. You could read it for free at www.studygroupcomics.com, but probably not in the bathtub (which is the best place to read it).
This book will be published by Thuban Press in September 2012, and it is 32 pages long and measures 5.5″x8.5″. It contains intense imagery and is intended for mature readers only.
WHO: Julia Gfrörer
WHAT: Black Is The Color book release and art exhibit
WHEN: Thursday, September 6th, 6-10pm; artwork on display until Sept. 30
WHERE: Floating World Comics, 400 NW Couch St.


Bio info:
Julia Gfrörer is a letterpress printer and Ignatz-nominated artist who was born at 1:10 am on Sunday, September 12, 1982 in Concord, NH. She has a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA, and currently lives in a haunted apartment in Portland, Oregon. She is a splendid young woman equipped with sharp teeth, roughly 463 freckles on her left hand and an imposing tangle of shining bright orange hair. When not obsessively drawing she also enjoys listening to hip hop, reading aloud, and researching things to be sad about. Her latest comic, Black is the Color, is updated every Wednesday on the Study Group Comics site.