The Power Of Stan
Hi again, Primate Posse! Thanks for sticking with me while I take a semi-break to concentrate on my other art endeavours. Also thanks to all my fellow cartoonists for the encouragement to continue. You guys are the greatest! 🙂
Anyway, guess what? There really is a Stan Dickie (well sort of). And there really is a song called (I Found Jesus) Under a Truck. Please click the link to listen to it. I recorded it myself doing all the vocals (I’m not really a singer, but I do my best with what I got!) and guitars (the drums are just a loop and I would love to put some bass on these songs some day). Stan Dickie is an alter-ego that I created for my Master of Fine Arts thesis. As it says in the comic, Stan is a country/rock “star” who I wanted to use ostensibly as a vehicle to satirize contemporary masculinity and traditional patriarchy (and as you can see a little religious satire crept in there).
The background on this is: early on in my MFA program, I started to write songs to use as soundtracks to simple cut-out animations i was creating. But I started to realize that a character was forming in my mind and I actually stopped animating to work on developing him. I also started to perform in costume as Stan and really felt I was on to something. When I finished the program, I considered creating a comic strip about Stan, but decided to go with my GITM concept which was already fully developed (before I ever went to art and then grad school). But I thought I’d bring Stan in to Gorilla in the Midst at some point. And hell, maybe the songs can draw a few more readers to the site? You can also check out standickie.com.
On another note, for the exhibition I am currently in in Montreal, I was asked to do a performance as Stan at the opening and I also wrote 2 new songs which I’ll add to Stan’s website soon. In the meantime, here is a link to the stop-motion animation we created in Montreal over a 4 month period. At the very end, over the credits, you can see a little bit of what the cut-out animation I was doing in school was like. Here’s the link Espejo Negro.
Great Green Googly Mooglies, Chris! What a talented wunderkin you are! These are some choice links right here! And now, you’ve assimilated your skills by pulling a Hitchcock! Can’t wait to see Stan Dickie’s comic strip appearance!
Thanks Mark! I’ve been trying to decide if Stan will actually appear in the comic or not. Maybe he should be like an adult from Peanuts, or like the mother in Vinnie the Vampire? Hmmmm
I guess Carrie Underwood had it all wrong! Jesus shouldn’t take the wheel, he should change the oil!
He’s actually working at a Jiffy Lube in El Paso! With Elvis, of course…
Yes, can’t wait to see Stan Dickie…and there are a few singers that have power over me as well. 🙂
I guess that settles it! Stan will have to appear in the comic by popular demand! 🙂 So what singers have a power over you, David?
Who’da thought Jesus would be under a truck. I thought he was more of a appear in some bathroom mould kinda guy. I liked the song.
And now I know the answer to my question “Who really is Stan Dickie?”
I often wonder, even though I wrote the song, exactly how Jesus did appear? Was it in an oil stain on the driveway? Was he actually there physically? I don’t even know myself! 🙂 Glad you like the song, Tony! I wasn’t sure if it was just too “show offy” to put it on this site, but what the hell? Might as well cross-pollinate my different works! 🙂
Yeah, I think a Stan comic would be great. I like the song, Chris. Songs, animation and a comic would make for a cool webcomic site.
Thanks Joseph! That’s kind of what I think too. We’ll see how it goes! 🙂