Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Hybridity Through Hyperbole: How The Webcomic Becomes Art
Using the definition of "hybrid art" as art that is both text and illustration or art that could only appear in digital form, a commonly viewed part of many every day web experiences could immediately satisfy at least one, if not both, of the criteria: blogging. This justification does depend on how one defines art itself, but upon inspection of the blog Hyberbole and a Half, a web comic based on real life experiences by a girl named Allie Brosh, there is no denying that artistic self-expression is tantamount in this kind of online viewer/creator experience.
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From the post titled "How a fish destroyed my childhood" to grammar lessons (what comes to mind when people incorrectly use the write "alot") and "7 Games You Can Play with a Brick," the purpose of the blog is to display humorous content at an accessible level. The funniness of the web comic is indeed as over-the-top as the name suggests, but less Hollywood-grotesque and rather genuine humorous sentiments from a (more or less) "regular" Idaho/Montana/Oregon girl.
Hyperbole and a Half depicts the world as Allie sees it - the creator's experiences and ideas are unique, but the humor has universal reception. For instance, in the post "Sneaky Hate Spiral," the comic chronicles a series of annoyances (bad music on the radio, waking up to a car alarm, paper cuts, squealing refrigerator, hidden wallet, broken toaster, in-the-face cat butts, etc.) that amount to an irrationally bad day. Everyone has become grumpy for inconsequential reasons at some point, but the absurd illustrations and calmly documenting remarks are what bring the experience to new level of expression. This is what makes Hyperbole and a Half art.
"Sneaky hate spirals begin simply enough. In fact, that is one of the hallmarks of sneaky hate spirals - they are merely the confluence of many unremarkable annoyances. Your day begins poorly."
"Eventually, the sum of the small annoyances begins to exceed your capacity for patience and rational thought. All it would take to send you over the edge into a bottomless pit of angry hysteria is just one more tiny, little thing..."
Despite looking at these marvelous pictures and thinking fondly of these titillating anecdotes, perhaps you're still questioning how Hyperbole and a Half actually counts as an artistic endeavor. If this is so, then the most important aspect of the analysis is to identify the comic genre as a whole (either online or in print) as a legitimate textual and artistic entity. Often dismissed as "just for children," the comic actually offers a level of flexibility and commentary that pictures or text alone cannot. The Hyperbole and a Half website gets approximately 1 to 2 million unique visitors per month and about 4 million total visitors, astonishing figures that shows sometimes numbers can speak for a level of artistic genius, both in pictures and words. Because of their multiplicity in origin and content, comics bring a dynamic element to literature and art. As University of Colorado comics professor William Kuskin says, "Comics are a virulent art. They get under our skin."
Web comics like Hyperbole and a Half do something that even most print comics do not; the blog format allows for the text to be a part of the punchline, and does not demand the limiting structure of the gird as in print. Printed collections of comics often have added textual commentary, but the text itself (as it is outside of the grid) is not essential to comic narrative. Conversely, Hyperbole and a Half often has posts that are almost entirely visual or written, with the fluid ability to be either picture or text in the same post or narrative arc.
Much like the blogging medium itself, Hyberbole and a Half is purposely low brow. The internet is host to the ideas of the world wide "Everyman," and in its easily approachable silliness, Hyperbole and a Half panders to the collective online society. The blog has displayed posts that chronicle Allie's accidental ingestion of pesticides, getting deliriously sick and searching feverishly in Texas for juice and getting stranded on a boat, sleeping in a tent in the backyard of meth addicts and burning down an island. It's fairly safe to say that most readers have not personally have not been in those exact situations, but Allie invokes a sense of good-humored sympathy. When critics point out that the creator's drawings "suck" and could be drawn by a five-year-old, Allie responds on the FAQ page by saying "I know. I do that on purpose because shitty drawings are funny." Interestingly, the deliberate "dumbing down" of the Hyperbole and a Half pictures only adds to the clever wit exposed by the textual content. The site appeals to childlike absurdity, but with a backward-thinking reflection on experiences that adds extra entertainment value.
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All pictures and quoted content belong to Allie Brosh, creator of Hyperbole and a Half. Visit the site to enjoy and support the awesomeness!
From the post titled "How a fish destroyed my childhood" to grammar lessons (what comes to mind when people incorrectly use the write "alot") and "7 Games You Can Play with a Brick," the purpose of the blog is to display humorous content at an accessible level. The funniness of the web comic is indeed as over-the-top as the name suggests, but less Hollywood-grotesque and rather genuine humorous sentiments from a (more or less) "regular" Idaho/Montana/Oregon girl.
Hyperbole and a Half depicts the world as Allie sees it - the creator's experiences and ideas are unique, but the humor has universal reception. For instance, in the post "Sneaky Hate Spiral," the comic chronicles a series of annoyances (bad music on the radio, waking up to a car alarm, paper cuts, squealing refrigerator, hidden wallet, broken toaster, in-the-face cat butts, etc.) that amount to an irrationally bad day. Everyone has become grumpy for inconsequential reasons at some point, but the absurd illustrations and calmly documenting remarks are what bring the experience to new level of expression. This is what makes Hyperbole and a Half art.
"Sneaky hate spirals begin simply enough. In fact, that is one of the hallmarks of sneaky hate spirals - they are merely the confluence of many unremarkable annoyances. Your day begins poorly."
"Eventually, the sum of the small annoyances begins to exceed your capacity for patience and rational thought. All it would take to send you over the edge into a bottomless pit of angry hysteria is just one more tiny, little thing..."
Despite looking at these marvelous pictures and thinking fondly of these titillating anecdotes, perhaps you're still questioning how Hyperbole and a Half actually counts as an artistic endeavor. If this is so, then the most important aspect of the analysis is to identify the comic genre as a whole (either online or in print) as a legitimate textual and artistic entity. Often dismissed as "just for children," the comic actually offers a level of flexibility and commentary that pictures or text alone cannot. The Hyperbole and a Half website gets approximately 1 to 2 million unique visitors per month and about 4 million total visitors, astonishing figures that shows sometimes numbers can speak for a level of artistic genius, both in pictures and words. Because of their multiplicity in origin and content, comics bring a dynamic element to literature and art. As University of Colorado comics professor William Kuskin says, "Comics are a virulent art. They get under our skin."
Web comics like Hyperbole and a Half do something that even most print comics do not; the blog format allows for the text to be a part of the punchline, and does not demand the limiting structure of the gird as in print. Printed collections of comics often have added textual commentary, but the text itself (as it is outside of the grid) is not essential to comic narrative. Conversely, Hyperbole and a Half often has posts that are almost entirely visual or written, with the fluid ability to be either picture or text in the same post or narrative arc.
Much like the blogging medium itself, Hyberbole and a Half is purposely low brow. The internet is host to the ideas of the world wide "Everyman," and in its easily approachable silliness, Hyperbole and a Half panders to the collective online society. The blog has displayed posts that chronicle Allie's accidental ingestion of pesticides, getting deliriously sick and searching feverishly in Texas for juice and getting stranded on a boat, sleeping in a tent in the backyard of meth addicts and burning down an island. It's fairly safe to say that most readers have not personally have not been in those exact situations, but Allie invokes a sense of good-humored sympathy. When critics point out that the creator's drawings "suck" and could be drawn by a five-year-old, Allie responds on the FAQ page by saying "I know. I do that on purpose because shitty drawings are funny." Interestingly, the deliberate "dumbing down" of the Hyperbole and a Half pictures only adds to the clever wit exposed by the textual content. The site appeals to childlike absurdity, but with a backward-thinking reflection on experiences that adds extra entertainment value.
--
All pictures and quoted content belong to Allie Brosh, creator of Hyperbole and a Half. Visit the site to enjoy and support the awesomeness!
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