Literary web site McSweeney’s celebrated the arrival of Art Spiegelman’s new book with a beautiful two-minute video chronicling the inner-workings of the celebrated graphic novelist.
Spiegelman, who wrote and illustrated the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel “Maus”, released his latest compilation “Be a Nose!” March 1. The book is a reproduction of the artist’s sketchbooks, a meandering panoply of eerie musings from what many consider to be the father of the mopdern graphic novel.
The video, also titled “Be a Nose!” and directed by Lars Edwards, is a work of art in itself. Edwards took a few of Spiegelman’s drawings and animated them, fitting the barely two-minute video to the cool stylings of Pat Carney, the drummer for The Black Keys.
It’s strange how weirdly affecting this little opus is: tiny creatures crawl out of heads, arrows point to nowhere, or lead you right back to the beginning on where you were. A short interlude where a hook-nosed creation goes fishing while wondrous sea creatures floating gently below his boat is particularly moving.
It’s a lovely rendition of Spiegelman’s work: many times when reading his novels it’s impossible to tell whether his ideas come from his dreams or his nightmares. Carney was an excellent choice for music as well- his drumming in this is “cool” in the way that I believe that word was actually intended.
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