Random narrative based on my work inside books, Zombierella, Autobiography and "Lost in a nordic dream" projects with help by international artists

Several times, I clearly don't know where I am after working on book collections for more than four years based on Italian artist Guido Crepax or Argentine artist Alberto Breccia for an well know comic book publisher in U.S.A who stole me my work on these collections that started inside a tiny little corner of my mind and that are being distributed all over the world.

 I'm almost sure that I don't live in Twin Peaks town, that was passed into Tv screens in the early 90's and on 2017 and that was created by the minds of American artists Marc Frost and David Lynch.

 I know that all my nieces give me all the energy in the world, particularly the youngest one named Letícia that is proud of the uncle that she has.

My youngest niece Letícia and myself 

Clearly knowing who I am, I've decided to work in several art projects with help by the best international artists that I know of in worlwide exhibitions curated by me, be it with themes such as my own work while working with paper women that were created by Italian artist Crepax like the examples of Valentina or Belinda that were depicted by more than 100 international artists, Cats as pets, Identity, Autobiography, Alberto Breccia, Zombierella, or Mascara Girl by more than 80 of the best international artists ever and whose artworks can be actually seen in previous posts in this same blogue.

 I know that writing narratives, mixing reality with fiction is an hard subject to deal with, nevertheless, I started working on them with help by international artists/singers/women/21st century women/human beings.

 It was hard joining forces with more than 100 international artists from all over this blue planet called Earth.

 Working with Svetlana Zombierella Nagaeva is quite simple, she borrows me her character while she's playing or touring with Russian band Messer Chups and I do remember making an interview to the band's leader Oleg Guitaracula and Svetlana on previous posts in this same blogue.

Messer Chups poster by Rockin Eugene 

Writing a simple narrative isn't simple at all, so I've asked a friend to start reading a book to me, in order for my mind to be synched or framed inside reality.

A woman reading a book

Random thoughts appear in my mind while I vision artworks that I've organized like the ones below from left to right, based on myself by Serbian artist Branko Djukic, Belinda paper character created by Italian maestro Crepax with artworks based on her by Japanese artist John Kurokawa, Croatian artist Danijel Zezelj, Brazilian artist Alex Korolkovas, Valentina comic book character (also created by Crepax) with artworks based on her by Spanish artist Sonia Pulido or Argentine artist Mr Ed, Russian musician Mascara Girl with artworks based on her by Argentine artist Pablo Burman, Russian musician Polina Aigre with an artwork by Italian artist Rolando Cicatelli, once again with artworks based on Russian musician Mascara Girl with artworks by Mexican artist Gaston Ortiz, Japanese Artist John Kurokawa, American Artist Erik von Erik or last but not least my friend and Russian musician Svetlana Zombierella Nagaeva with artworks by Italian artist Rolando Cicatelli, Spanish artists Jon Ander Azaola or Ruben Pellejero, Italian artist Stefano Zattera or Turkish artist Ayse Maktas.

Artworks by international artists based on paper women created by Italian artist Guido Crepax vs real women like Svetlana Zombierella Nagaeva, Mascara Girl and Polina Aigre

Is it hard working based on real women and it help by international artists?

I believe that it's not simple, but with a simple phone, I actually try to make it more simple than it actually is.

A phone by Swedish artist Lars Erik Sjunesson

I know that on Zombierella's project, I do trust Svetlana and she trusts me while some of the best international artists ever depict her as the beautiful woman that she clearly is and that can be seen in the picture below.

Zombierella

Zombierella seen by Italian artist Bernardino Constantino - 01 

Zombierella seen by Italian artist Bernardino Constantino - 02

Zombierella seen by Italian artist Bernardino Constantino - 03

Zombierella seen by Italian artist Bernardino Constantino - 04

Zombierella seen by Italian artist Le nevralgi costanti 

Zombierella seen by Italian artist Osvaldo Casanova

Zombierella seen by Italian artist Andro Malis

Zombierella seen by Italian artist Bernardino Constantino - 05

Zombierella seen by Italian artist ED Amok

Zombierella seen by French artist Phillipe Gurel - 01

Zombierella seen by Italian artist Alberto Lavadori

Zombierella seen by French artist Phillipe Gurel - 02

I clearly believe in the sentence below my picture.

Just BE yourself 

Working on narratives with women as their main subject, makes me wonder about if "that chewing gum you like is going to come back in style" or not while I actually see Messer Chups members in a bar where Twin Peaks Tv series was shot, Russian musician Polina Aigre lost in Notre Dame - Paris or myself lost or found in the prettiest city in the all world.

Where Twin Peaks Tv series enter and suddenly disappears 

I know that I love books, movies, Tv series, music, to read, watch and listen to them in order to be inspired by them and write my own narratives with a clear purpose on my mind.

A simple guy reading "the invisibles" by Scottish writer Grant Morrison - 01

A simple guy reading "the invisibles" by Scottish writer Grant Morrison - 02

Comic strip by Swedish artist Lars Erik Sjunesson 

Some of the best contemporary international artists also created some magnificient artworks based on my physical appearance and that can be seen in this and previous posts in this same blogue.

Vision of myself by Italian artist Bernardino Constantino - 01

Vision of myself by Italian artist Bernardino Constantino - 02

Sometimes I do think about "What's next?" within my mind.

Thinking on "what's next?"

Other times, I find myself "lost in a nordic dream" with help by Scandinavian artists.

Preliminary sketch based on myself and Finnish artist Terhi Ekebom by Canadian artist Stan Wany

There are times when I'm actually reading while thinking on "The kindly ones".

Reading "The Kindly ones" by English writer Neil Gaiman 

There're times when I'm watching Peaky Blinders Tv series and writing love poems to Svetlana Seferovic.

Drawing based on myself by Serbian artist Svetlana Seferovic 

Serbian artist Svetlana Seferovic 

I know that I'm always thinking on narratives to create without a previous written script like Chinese director Wong Kar Wai's does based on what I see on this life and with help by the best international artists that I know of.

Lost inside a Wong Kar Wai book 

I also know that written words scream inside us all as human beings even we do create images without them and that we can be lost in a labirinthic maze of ideas like we were in a simple theater play named life that tells us to EXIT it several times.

With an original tribute to Zombierella by Italian artist Andro Malis 

Written words that I think upon with a pen and pencil decorated with Portuguese tiles

A theater play and a simple comic book

Maybe we as human beings are always a bit lost in life where sometimes directions are given to us in a conceptual idea where only lovers are real alive.

A simple woman showing me a direction 

An artwork by Serbian artist Branko Djukic based on a woman without a direction

Sometimes people try to relegate ourselves to our own mysery like Reich told us in the magnificient book below.

A simple guy holding a book named "listen little man" by Wilhelm Reich 

I know that I never had in life a clear notion of Vendetta, even if days are being wild or if I feel like Mickey Mouse character.

An original artwork given to me by British artist David Lloyd that created "V for Vendetta" book along English writer Alan Moore

A picture of one of my favorite dialogues ever in movies in Wong kar Wai's masterpiece "Days of being wild"

An artwork based on myself as Mickey Mouse character by Italian artist Andro Malis 

I know that I always loved and will always love to write love stories to simple/common/beautiful women, clearly knowing that the prettiest women in my life will always be my nieces, because I truly believe that in life blood does matter.

Yeah

A beautiful woman to whom I write love stories

Me and one of my nieces 

Da mui nobre, sempre leal e invicta cidade do Porto 

Manuel

Exclusive interview to Belgium artist/movies director Vincent Bal

A short intro.

I was a bit scared of the dark when I was a child...
 Since then I started to pay more attention to shadows and light...
 I was lost in some country in Europe thinking on an interview that I needed to do to extraordinary Belgium artist Vincent Bal...
 I was researching two books based on Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh and Spanish painter Pablo Picasso...
 I was lost in touch in reality where dreams were screams that I visioned in the night while observing a candle light...
 Maybe then that was me talking to me...about myself...
I remember that I was listening to a band and a music album from 2001 that I love and that in the night I was freezing to death while I was communicating with fascinating Finnish artist Terhi Ekebom about a project of us together and a solo project that she was helping me with in her birthday's eve (you know that you're the best), I was also communicating with Swedish artist Lars Erik Sjunesson about Swedish vampires, with Serbian artist Svetlana Seferovic about life and with Canadian artist Stan Wany about an artwork that he'll create in the imediate future.
 Later after, I've thought in interviews that I did, I am doing or that I'll do and that can be or will be read in this same blogue on several posts to some of the best international contemporary artists ever in past or future time and that I've thought calling them "coffeeshop interviews" in several languages.
I know that I learn a lot by entering in international artists inner world while trying to give them by communicating with them a bit of who I am also in a cultural/artistic exchange...
 Thanks to all artists and musicians that believe in my ideas and for sharing their unique visions with me and to all readers who read/scroll this blogue...

Thinking 

Picasso paintings and sculptures 

Picasso paintings 

My favourite Van Gogh painting 

A shadow of myself 

Below's a simple song about what I believe either in dollars or in cents.

Dollars and cents lyrics from 2001 Radiohead's album "Amnesiac"
"There are many things to talk about
Be constructive
There are weapons we can use
Be constructive with your blues

Even when it's only warnings
Even when you talk the war games

Oh why don't you quiet down? (maybe I want peace and honesty)
Why don't you quiet down? (maybe I want to live in the children's land and you know maybe, maybe I)
Why don't you quiet down? (maybe I'll wander the promised land I want peace and honesty)
Why don't you quiet down? (I want to live in the promised land and maybe wander the children's land)
Quiet down (yeah, and there, there we can free)

You don't live in a business world and
You never go out and you never stay
We won our goals in a liberal world
Living in times when I could stand it, babe

All over, baby's crying
It'll all be, baby, I can see out of here
All over the planet's dead
All over the planet, so let me out of here
All over the, all over the, all over the, all over the

We are the dollars and cents and the pounds and pence (quiet down)
And the mark and the yen, and yeah 
We're gonna crack your little souls (why don't you quiet down?)
We're gonna crack your little souls (why don't you quiet down?)
We are the dollars and cents and the pounds and pence (why don't you quiet down?)
And the pounds and pence, and yeah
We're gonna crack your little souls
Crack your little souls
We are the dollars and cents"

Interview to Belgium artist Vincent Bal 

Vincent Bal 

1. Your work is awesome and it dwells in shadows. Do you prefer to see shadows or light in life?

Well, life is all about Yin and Yang. You need light to see the shadows, and you need shadows to appreciate the light. I like both.

Yin and Yang

2. I know that you have an extraordinary book named "Shadowology". How does it feel for you as an artist to see your own shadows reflecting simple objects in paper format?

It’s nice to know that my work does exist outside of the digital world as well. I like books a lot. There is something about the feel of paper and the smell of a book. SO I hope people who have the book, keep it in a place where visitors can have a look at it nw and then. A friend told me he kept his copy near the toilet. :-) It’s true people do a lot of reading there.

Book

 3. A book is a simple and also a disquiet object. Have you ever thought on putting them reflecting shadows also?

I think I have made stuff with books already, but the problem is, most books have a pretty boring shadow. Just a square. It’s always nice if an object casts an unexpected shadow. That way you really discover something.

 4. I'm listening to Radiohead album "Amnesiac" right now while doing this interview to you. Do you create your artworks with music in your studio?

Oh yes, I’m always listening to music while I work. I make playlists on Spotify at the beginning at the beginning of each month and then tend to listen to that lost over and over again. I like the music to mark a certain period in my life, that way I can look back and think ‘oh yes, that was the time I was listening to James Brown a lot!’.
This months playlist has (amongst others): Prince, Ringo Starr, Chic, Young MC, Zapp, Charlotte Aldigéry and Vulfpeck

Radiohead's Amnesiac album

5. Do you like to read books or comic books?
Can you tell us your favourites?

I really like reading, with books and comics. I recently read a wonderful little book by George Saunders, called "Fox 8". A masterpiece. Besides that, I am now reading a book by Michael Palin about the Erebus.
My favorite books include "Lord Of The Flies"  (Golding), "Uncle Oswald" (Dahl) and I have a big love for the crime novels by Agatha Christie and Georges Simenon.

George Saunders

Michael Palin

William Golding 

Roald Dahl 

Agatha Christie 

George Simenon 

In comics, I really love the Belgian masters like Franquin, Vandersteen and Morris. I started loving comics in the eighties and was then blown away by people like Yves Chaland, laughed with Frank Margerin, Hanco Kolk and Peter De Wit…

Franquin - Artwork 

Vandersteen - page 

Tribute to Morris Lucky Luke character by Vincent Bal 

Yves Chaland - page 

Frank Margerin - cover 

Hanco Kolk - page

Peter De Wit

Other artists I really love; Lewis Trondheim, Christophe Blain, Robert Crumb, Charles Berberian…

Lewis Trondheim

Christophe Blain

Robert Crumb

 Berberian

One of my favorite comics from last year was a Belgian series called ‘Les Beaux Etés’ by Jordi Lafebre and Zidrou.

‘Les Beaux Etés’ by Jordi Lafebre and Zidrou.

 6. Do you create your artworks with the help of shadows in public spaces such as coffeeshops or bars?

I have done that sometimes yes. When I see the sunlight falling in on a table, it’s hard for me not to start fidgeting around with the objects on the tables and see if something appears.
But mostly I do my drawings at home. I have  some little lights that I use, so I can work in a relaxed way.
The sunlight is better, gives the best shadows, but it’s always stress. The sun moves, so the shadows change constantly, and then I’m not even talking about clouds that mess everything up. 
Since I live in cloudy Belgium, it’s a safer bet to work with lamps. 

01

 7. You're also a director. How do you do to create a static artwork like a simple drawing with a shadow by turning it into several framed images in movement while creating shadows within shadows in your mind's eye?

I’m a film director, which means I can direct movies of all kinds, sometimes also animation. But I’m definitely not an expert in animation. When I work on a live action film, I depend a lot on my actors. They have to create a powerful performance and I am there to help them and steer them in the right direction. In an animation project, it’s the same with the animators. I have to work with them, so that everybody on the film is telling the same story. All the noses in the same direction. Hence the word Director.
With my shadowology movies, the crew is just me. That means I can work really intuitively, my hands do the thinking more than my brain.
I can sometimes create movement with objects that move, or I add the object to an existing drawing, or sometimes I draw it on cabers and speed it up.
My little movies are like primitive cinema. There is something very artisan like about them, very ‘Meliès’. I like that.

Poster by Vincent Bal for the screening of his movie "The bloody olive" at San Francisco 

Poster of Vincent Bal's movie "The stranger"

Poster of Vincent Bal's movie "Man of steel"

Poster of Vincent Bal's movie "The bloody olive"

Poster of Vincent Bal's movie "Kika & Bob"

Poster of Vincent Bal's movie "Brabamçonne"

Poster of Vincent Bal's movie "Zig Zag"

Poster of "voyage to the moon" by French director George Mélies 

8. Sometimes you use fruit, forks and spoon to create shadows in your drawings. Are the fruits something that you eat or ate after your artworks are made?
Do the forks or spoons belong to you or are they in your own kitchen?

By this time, I have used almost every item that we have in the house. I have looked through all the drawers, used my kids toys etc. So it’s really true that most of the stuff comes from my day-to-day life. If I’m eating an apple and like the shape, I might try to make something out of that.
Besides that, I sometimes go to thrift shops and gadget shops and look for little cheap items that I could work with. Afterwards I donate them to our recycling shop.

 9. Can you tell us if the above mentioned objects mixed with your drawings and words create several narratives in your mind or do they only create a huge narrative inside your inner soul?

For me my work is like cloud watching. I look at the shadows and see shapes appear. The shapes that I see, wil undoubtedly have something to do with things that are on my mind at that time. 
What I really enjoy is the moment where I see an image that tells a little story; A guy waiting for his date, two people in love, a father and his son… 
The same object can be the inspiration for multiple images. I remember making three different images with same grater. In one images the little white circles became the faces of a choir, in another they were raindrops.
There are a lot of stories in the shadows if you take the time to look.

10. What do you think when you see a mountain reflecting itself in an ocean, do you think that nature ressembles what is inside your shadowology ideas?

Nature is of course a big inspiration. It’s amazing how a leaf looks like a tree, looks like the lungs of people… The shapes and patterns in nature are astonishing.
Some of my most favorite pictures are those where an ocean appears in the shadow of a glass. All these values of grey, I love that.

Reflection of a mountain in water 

 11. Can you tell us a bit of who you're when you're in a coffeeshop or a public space observing people or objects?

I’m just myself. I start most of my days reading a newspaper and drinking a coffee in a nearby coffee bar. I love the privacy of that moment. And the thought that a whole fresh day is ahead of you.

Coffee ready to go

 12. How do you see the XXI century where everything is digital? Do you think that mankind will lose its apetite for arts because of seeing several random images in the internet or even social networks?

It is tricky. ON one level it’s really great that I can find an audience all over the world thanks to digital media. I don’t need a ‘middle man’, I can communicate directly with an audience.
On the other hand, I have the feeling that a lot of things get more and more ethereal. People want something new every ten minutes. That means they also get less patience to sit down and enjoy a book, or a sunset (without taking one million pictures for social media). So I guess we as people will have to find a way to deal with it, and try to still take our time to do absolutely nothing now and then.
Dare to be bored, because that’s the moment where great things happen.

Below is a short video by Vincent Bal.

Check his videos out in platforms but PLEASE buy Vincent's book "Shadowology" because he's clearly a genius worth spending some dollars (or cents) in his artworks 

Manuel