[A Brief Note from Ethereal, Followed by an Introduction]

[Ladies and Gentleman! After several months of weak posting and busy schedules...I present to you a POSTING EXTRAVAGANZA! I've collected all of the documentation for my Senior Art Show...and I'm bringing it to YOU this weekend! Prepare for Gallery Pics, Panels, and Higher Quality photographs! Now you can experience 'Out of the Ordinary' from the comforts of DeviantArt!

I've updated the Introduction panels today, and will post the Emotive Sequence tomorrow, followed by the Conclusion on Sunday. To give you a little taste...I've thrown in the "Forward" of the show here.

-Ethereal]


Dear Reader,

Many months ago, I was presented with the question that all Studio Art majors must eventually face: when you finally have a chance to share your work in the gallery, what will you be sharing?
I found myself wrestling with three main concepts. Firstly, how can I work to validate comics and break the stereotypes frequently affiliated with them? Secondly, if a comic tells a story, what's a story worth our time? Finally, what on earth am I doing with my life right now?
Surprisingly, as my hours in the studio increased, I began to realize that these questions could be addressed together within a body of work. With the inspiration of Scott McCloud's comics on comics, I began to create a body of work that could address all of those questions; a story where the comic was addressed in an untraditional manner and discussed something deep about our connections with others, as well as the experience of my final year at Cornell. It is a narrative about humanity, the people within it, and the emotional experiences we all share. It is a story that I think about often, and I invite you to think about too.
The comic you are about to read is a bit Out of the Ordinary. The narrative is built from seventeen lines that form a story in three parts. Each of these lines equates to a panel, with non-sequitur panel transitions. This means that the images don't always match up easily. Sometimes, they even move away from a flat panel entirely and become three-dimensional. There is no one main character, just as there is not in reality. It is an appropriate format to represent the abstract nature of existence, but it asks for a little something from you, the viewer. I'm asking for your intellectual and emotion participation.
At some point in your life, you have probably read a comic whether you know it or not: The Sunday paper, directions on how to inflate your emergency life vest, a doodle in a classmate's notebook. Often ,we get lost in the imagery or the words, and we float through the work. By removing the familiar narrative pattern, I'm asking you to immerse yourself not only in the words- but in the imagery as well. I'm asking you to think about what you read and what you see, and to keep an open mind. The comic is, in itself, a bit of an oddity.

Then again, we're all a little bit strange.

Yours,

Megan Sass*