Art Exhibition
The Internship
Document Type
Art Exhibition
Location
Indianapolis, IN
Subject Area
Art Exhibition
Start Date
13-4-2018 9:00 AM
End Date
13-4-2018 3:00 PM
Sponsor
Suzanne Chouteau (Xavier University)
Description
The Internship is a 42-page graphic novel created to ponder the function of narrative in shaping society, especially in regards to representation of social groups. Set in an alternate universe where people with special abilities have warranted legislation and education to protect themselves, The Internship is about a young group of specially-abled peoples’ experience trying to obtain an internship at a like-minded philanthropic organization as a practical substitution to government-mandated, ineffectively taught school electives. This story is nostalgic, using retro-inspired patch imagery and a code system created by the artist’s actual childhood friends, while still being relevant by explicitly referencing minute injustices to minority groups. Coded messages appear throughout the story that reference science, morality, and the unexplained. The artist processes social issues into a digestible and relatable narrative by using imagined characters in an imagined world as a parallel to current events. The book is accompanied by a multimedia illustration, Adilah. The middle third of the composition of the piece is a direct reference to Norman Rockwell’s The Problem we all live with, which deliberately links the piece to in-universe educational problems and gives commentary on our real-world state of education. The bottom third uses patch imagery as symbols of the main characters in The Internship, giving context to who they are.
The Internship
Indianapolis, IN
The Internship is a 42-page graphic novel created to ponder the function of narrative in shaping society, especially in regards to representation of social groups. Set in an alternate universe where people with special abilities have warranted legislation and education to protect themselves, The Internship is about a young group of specially-abled peoples’ experience trying to obtain an internship at a like-minded philanthropic organization as a practical substitution to government-mandated, ineffectively taught school electives. This story is nostalgic, using retro-inspired patch imagery and a code system created by the artist’s actual childhood friends, while still being relevant by explicitly referencing minute injustices to minority groups. Coded messages appear throughout the story that reference science, morality, and the unexplained. The artist processes social issues into a digestible and relatable narrative by using imagined characters in an imagined world as a parallel to current events. The book is accompanied by a multimedia illustration, Adilah. The middle third of the composition of the piece is a direct reference to Norman Rockwell’s The Problem we all live with, which deliberately links the piece to in-universe educational problems and gives commentary on our real-world state of education. The bottom third uses patch imagery as symbols of the main characters in The Internship, giving context to who they are.