Saturday, September 12, 2015

Concert Posters - Quarantine - P. A. Nolte


1/ In silhouette, a man with a shovel stands under a tree. Beside him is a small cross.

Caption: I buried my dog under the tree in my backyard.

Caption: He got sick so fast... I didn't know what else to do.

2/ From the back of a van, men in hazard suits pour onto the main thoroughfare of a small town.  The citizens make various attempts to avoid the men, or at least get out of their way.

Caption: When Mr. Friedman got sick, the men in suits came.

3/ A crowd on the edge of town.  At the border, more men in hazard suits, and several nondescript men in nondescript black suits.

Caption: They told us we couldn't leave.  That we were quarantined.

4/ Rioting.  The same peaceful citizens from before have turned their home into a war zone.  Hiding with his back pressed up against the wall of an alley is the man with the shovel.

Caption: There was no going back after that.

5/ A wall of shipping crates erected on the perimeter of the town.  Train tracks still pass alongside the wall, but it's clear that nothing penetrates it.

Caption: I just miss my dog.

3 comments:

  1. Love it. A nice build that loops right back into that initial thought in a manner that is both natural and a little surprising. Also, great use of the shipping crate imagery.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Really dig where you took this -- such an imaginative way to move forward (or backward...) from this image. I like how the death of the dog remains the through-line here, and how you use the shovel as another related element to bind the panels together. Two thoughts if you felt like returning to this piece. First, I wonder if there's a way to show something of the crates before the final panel. A smart reader would be able to read the final panel the way you intend ("but it's clear nothing penetrates it") but it might be a little bit of a leap from the previous panel. Don't get me wrong: I like these swift moves you make, and how much pressure you put on each panel. But I wonder if you can just ensure that we get your final meaning: the containment of the town, including the dog's grave and all the hell that unfolded. Second: I think you could expand this little anecdote into a fuller story. As I think about that shipping crate wall after everything else you described, my imagination shifts into high gear. So, I don't know, I think there's more story here for you to play with. Thanks for this!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Really dig where you took this -- such an imaginative way to move forward (or backward...) from this image. I like how the death of the dog remains the through-line here, and how you use the shovel as another related element to bind the panels together. Two thoughts if you felt like returning to this piece. First, I wonder if there's a way to show something of the crates before the final panel. A smart reader would be able to read the final panel the way you intend ("but it's clear nothing penetrates it") but it might be a little bit of a leap from the previous panel. Don't get me wrong: I like these swift moves you make, and how much pressure you put on each panel. But I wonder if you can just ensure that we get your final meaning: the containment of the town, including the dog's grave and all the hell that unfolded. Second: I think you could expand this little anecdote into a fuller story. As I think about that shipping crate wall after everything else you described, my imagination shifts into high gear. So, I don't know, I think there's more story here for you to play with. Thanks for this!

    ReplyDelete

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