Son[i]a #222
Antoni Hervás
Antoni Hervás considers himself a troubadour and has always dreamt of being a Bollywood DJ. He studied at a school where a visionary teacher tried to turn her class into a musicals troupe, and this and other episodes from his life are clues to understanding his work.
At the core of his practice is drawing – a kind of drawing that he describes as elastic and mutant, not subservient to other disciplines but able to absorb and expand them. Through drawing, Hervás documents stories based on personal anecdotes and tall tales that seek to become universal. His methods include amassing data, as well as unorthodox and seemingly absurd research. His projects combine individual stories with oral memory, local traditions and classic mythology in a theatrical mix of reality, distortion, and fiction.
Although he studied fine arts, Antoni Hervás says that he slipped into the art world through the back door, distributing his fanzines in bookstores. Always true to his amateur, viral spirit, he swapped photocopies and print margins for what the white cube considers the territory of the “expanded fanzine” and he sees as just another expression of his festive, community spirit and viral potential. As such, at every opportunity, he insists of taking the fanzine back to the street through workshops with children and adults.
SON[I]A talks to Antoni Hervás about hold-ups, about his grandmother, mermaid theme parks, Hercules, photocopies, and about approaching play as a system of resistance.
Un Faulduo
Nicolás Zukerfeld and Nicolás Daniluk talk about experimentation and collective work, about minor authors and mass copies, about the power of translating and adapting, and about the architecture of comic strips as a space where speed and time are resolved.
Francesc Ruiz
In his exploration of the speculative traces of comics as a cultural form, Francesc Ruiz calls up notions such as détournement, desire, fan culture, window, vignette, and counter-history. In FONS AUDIO #33 he talks about his projects, about the ideological aspects implicit in newsstand displays, and about how comics can reorganise the way a city is used.