A guest post by Bill Kartalopoulos
Shapereader is a new system of comics for the blind and visually impaired, developed by the multifarious experimental comics artist Ilan Manouach.![]()
Born in Athens, Greece and educated at the Institut Saint-Luc in Brussels, Ilan Manouach is a multidisciplinary artist whose work includes several strands of interrelated experimental comics as well as music and publishing projects. His most recent project is Shapereader, a system of forms developed to produce comics for the blind and visually impaired. Shapereader utilizes a new vocabulary of tactile language that avoids mimetic pictorialism. Funded by a grant from the Finnish Institue Koneen Säätiö, Manouach has developed the overall Shapereader system and has produced Arctic Circle, a massive 57-plate graphic novel using the Shapereader repertoire of forms. Manouach will appear at the MoCCA Arts Festival in New York, NY on April 11 and 12, 2015 to show and discuss his innovative work.
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A system of communication boards using standard braille allows readers to familiarize themselves with Shapereader vocabulary, presented above in plain English-language text.
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The 57-plate graphic novel Arctic Circle tells the story of two climatologists in the North Pole searching for patterns of climate change inscribed on ice columns.
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Manouach will discuss Shapereader in detail on a panel on comics and disability at the High Line Hotel on April 12, taking place as part of the MoCCA Arts Festival. Manouach will have sample Shapereader boards and copies of his other books on hand during the entirety of that weekend at the Rebus Books booth at the main festival site, Center 548.
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Manouach’s other work includes a series of comics détournements, including Les Schroumpfs Noirs and Katz. He will discuss these in a separate MoCCA festival panel on comics and appropriation on April 11.
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His current work in progress is the graphic novel Undercurrents. Manouach posts about current and upcoming projects and events on his Facebook page.
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Bill Kartalopoulos is a Brooklyn-based comics educator, curator and critic. He is the publisher of Rebus Books and the Series Editor for the Best American Comics.
See more posts about comics on 50 Watts
This post first appeared on March 30, 2015 on 50 Watts
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Born in Athens, Greece and educated at the Institut Saint-Luc in Brussels, Ilan Manouach is a multidisciplinary artist whose work includes several strands of interrelated experimental comics as well as music and publishing projects. His most recent project is Shapereader, a system of forms developed to produce comics for the blind and visually impaired. Shapereader utilizes a new vocabulary of tactile language that avoids mimetic pictorialism. Funded by a grant from the Finnish Institue Koneen Säätiö, Manouach has developed the overall Shapereader system and has produced Arctic Circle, a massive 57-plate graphic novel using the Shapereader repertoire of forms. Manouach will appear at the MoCCA Arts Festival in New York, NY on April 11 and 12, 2015 to show and discuss his innovative work.
A system of communication boards using standard braille allows readers to familiarize themselves with Shapereader vocabulary, presented above in plain English-language text.
The 57-plate graphic novel Arctic Circle tells the story of two climatologists in the North Pole searching for patterns of climate change inscribed on ice columns.
Manouach will discuss Shapereader in detail on a panel on comics and disability at the High Line Hotel on April 12, taking place as part of the MoCCA Arts Festival. Manouach will have sample Shapereader boards and copies of his other books on hand during the entirety of that weekend at the Rebus Books booth at the main festival site, Center 548.
Manouach’s other work includes a series of comics détournements, including Les Schroumpfs Noirs and Katz. He will discuss these in a separate MoCCA festival panel on comics and appropriation on April 11.
His current work in progress is the graphic novel Undercurrents. Manouach posts about current and upcoming projects and events on his Facebook page.
Bill Kartalopoulos is a Brooklyn-based comics educator, curator and critic. He is the publisher of Rebus Books and the Series Editor for the Best American Comics.
See more posts about comics on 50 Watts
This post first appeared on March 30, 2015 on 50 Watts
