Original artwork panels titled Cartoon Consequences (1980-1985) [later published as So The Story Goes] [with] Consequences [and] So The Story Goes [and] Ambit 105

Coleman, Les; Fidler, Martin; Duncalf, Stephen; Wheatley, Steve; Sackett, Colin

Edité par Self-published, 1980

A propos de cet article

A collection of materials spanning 1980-2010, the centrepiece being original source artworks - ink and mixed-media on card - for a long-running collaborative back-and-forth mail art project conducted over the years 1980 to 1985 between the artists Martin Fidler, Stephen Duncalf, Steve Wheatley, and Les Coleman. Coleman described it as "working loosely on the principle of the children's party game Chinese whispers - using the conventions of comics - the poetics of this 'experimental' narrative [hark] back to various chain games explored by surrealists in the 1930s". Also included are three publications and some ephemera: (1) A copy of the first 'Consequences' book published in 1980, limited to 750 copies (of which this is numbered 120), paperback [62pp], this being the artists' initial cooperative graphic storytelling project made between January and June 1978 by Martin Fidler, Les Coleman, Steve Wheatley, Stephen Duncalf, and John Digby; (2) A copy of 'Ambit' issue 105, 1986, a magazine containing an article by Les Coleman and a fully illustrated preview of the artists' second 'Consequences' project, more ambitious in scope (remaining unpublished until 2010), 96pp; (3) the long-delayed final published form of 'Cartoon Consequences' retitled as 'So The Story Goes', In House Publishing, 2010, signed by Martin Fidler, paperback, [64pp], limited to 100 copies. Also included are: 'Star in the North East', an unmarked, undated [c.1985] greetings card by [Les] Coleman and [Charlie] Holmes, a Bill Culbert postcard titled 'Tracks, 1985' produced by Coracle Press with handwritten message on rear from Les Coleman to Colin Sackett. Regarding the artwork panels spanning 1 to 60, six of these (as showcased in the final project) are absent here, but an unrecorded extra card numbered 32 is included which does not appear in the final 2010 book. Duplicates and variants are included. Unique to these handmade panels are the working notes exchanged between the artists, which are very revealing of the group's creative process. The first contribution is from Martin Fidler - undated, circa June 1980 - and the ensuing five years saw fifty-nine panels produced between Fidler, Coleman, Duncalf, and Wheatley. The original plan was for each participant to post a response on the same day as receipt of the panel, but this lapsed into a looser time-frame after Fidler went to Helsinki, Finland, with his contributions arriving via Air Mail. Panel 29 is pasted and backed on a cropped 1982 exhibition card for Dick Lindgren at the Taidemaalariliiton Galleria. On panel 34, Wheatley asks "I wonder if these little comments might form an interesting history of the story behind 'Cartoon Consequences'?" - an idea evidently not pursued for the final book. There is reference to a two-year delay around number 31 in the sequence. The accompanying books are near fine condition. The artworks vary: some have glue acidity staining and a few detached from their backing.

N° de réf. du vendeur 29318

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Original artwork panels titled Cartoon Consequences (1980-1985) [later published as So The Story Goes] [with] Consequences [and] So The Story Goes [and] Ambit 105
• Éditeur: Self-published
• Date de parution: 1980
• Reliure: Couverture souple
• Signé: Signé par l'auteur