Becoming Aware of One’s Own Biased Attitude: The Observer’s Encounter with Disability in Chris Ware’s Acme Novelty Library no. 18
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Keywords
contemporary art, comics, aesthetics of reception
Abstract
This art historical treatment of the graphic novel Acme Novelty Library no. 18 investigates the particular manner of its representation of disability. With reference to theory of body and also theory of images, this study shows that the reading observer is confronted with his/her social and cultural imprint in the process of examining the graphic novel.
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Image Credits
Fig. 1. First double page in Acme Novelty Library no. 18, 2007. Montréal (Québec): Drawn and Quarterly n.p. © 2014 C. Ware
Fig. 2. Next double page in ANL no. 18. n.p. © 2014 C. Ware
Fig. 3. Detail of the double page in fig. 2 (right page, n.p.). © 2014 C. Ware
Fig. 4. Marc Quinn. Stuart Penn, 2000. Marble, 160h x 98w x 54d cms, courtesy: Marc Quinn studio
Fig. 5. Marc Quinn. Alison Lapper Pregnant, 2005. Marble, 355h x 180.5w x 260d cms, Trafalgar Square, London. Photo: Marc Quinn studio
Fig. 6. Left page in ANL no. 18. n.p. © 2014 C. Ware
Fig. 7. Right page in ANL no. 18. n.p. © 2014 C. Ware
Fig. 8. Next right page in ANL no. 18. n.p. © 2014 C. Ware
Fig. 9. Next right page in ANL no. 18. n.p. © 2014 C. Ware
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Nina Heindl, Ruhr-University, Bochum
Nina Heindl, MA, is PhD student in art history at Ruhr-University in Bochum, Germany. Her dissertation project is about artistic forms of comics based on Chris Ware’s oeuvre. She works as Graduate Assistant at the Department of Art History, University of Cologne, Germany. Contact: [email protected].