Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Ah MIX and other things




So where to begin. Well I think I need to start at the begining of last week. I can't start to describe the week without acknowledging the passing of my amazing grandmother. Cancer is a really horrible thing and it was really hard to watch her go. The whole thing stirred up so many emotions and memories that I am pretty sure that I was walking around in a fog all week. Between Thursday (the wake) and Saturday (1am) I went without sleep. We buried my grandmother at noon on Friday and by 2pm I was on my way to Minneapolis for MIX (Minneapolis Indie Expo). We went to the Cloud Show at Pink Hobo first. I was really impressed with the work on the wall. It really made me want to get back into printmaking. Pink Hobo is a really beautiful place with all sorts of cool things on the wall.
Jake Reuth and I bounced off to get some Indian Food. It was delicious and spicy. After diner we headed back to Pink Hobo. There was an organized Drink and Draw event here. Not really knowing anyone, we decide to find a bar and put on our own little drink and draw. We found a little Irish Pub (fitting place to end the night at considering where the day started). We drank. We Drew. We Threw darts.
We got up early Saturday (6 hours of sleep for me) and headed down to the Soap Factory. We were greeted by the beautiful and incredibly nice/ hard working/ organized/ etc etc... Sarah Morean. We got to our table and set up. I hadn't brought much because I knew that this wouldn't be a show where I would do a lot of commissions or sell a lot of originals.
Andy Krueger bopped over and said hello. I kinda thought he was a crazy person at first. But then I realized who he was and I totally got why he was so excited. For Sarah and Andy this must have been pretty amazing to see this show come together. This was a total DIY show and it was really something to see it all come together.
Saturday was a fairly slow day for us. Hell it was slow for everyone. I realized I wouldn't make any money at this show so I should try and get around to as many people as I could and introduce myself (social awkwardness and all). It turned into a nice little networking show. Jake still was able to sell a bunch of prints to little girls that dug his colorful creatures. My stuff looks too much like the superhero stuff that the rest of these guys are rebeling against. I get it though. I don't read a ton of superhero stuff. I would much rather read an indie book that is hand stapled and hand printed.
We headed up to the Bulldog Bar and Grill and grabbed a bite to eat before heading to The MIX Mixer. It was sort of awkward again. Not really knowing people at this show really made things tough. Though I got to sit and hang out with Jake and get into some really deep geek talk.
Sunday was much the same as Saturday. But had a few really cool moments mixed in. I decided that I didn't care if I made a single sale. I made a point of going out into the show and finding new comics that would inspire me. I picked up a Paul Pope comic from the Adhouse guys. They could have taken all my money. They had the most amazing books I have ever seen. They all had this handmade feeling but on a mass production scale. The books all smell of soy ink and expensive paper. I could gush on and on... I picked up Britney Sabo's new book Those Who Travel Alone. This comic is short but awesome. B. Sabo is a real talent! I picked up Blammo #6 by Noah Van Sciver. I finally bought Pranas T. Naujokaitis Beard. He was awesome. It was weird because I don't know him personally but I felt like I knew him since I have been reading his Ink Dick comic all along. I suppose that is the downfall of having an autobio comic up on the web. Lastly, I picked up Lale Westvind's Hyperspeed to Nowhere. This book was my impulse buy. It was so good though in a crazy "I don't give a fuck" kind of way.

I was happy to meet a few publishers and some new friends. That is what I got out of MIX (and I found out what an Arnie Palmer was....sosoooooo goooood!).

I recuperated Monday... Accomplishing absolutely nothing. Tuesday was better.

Links

2 comments:

Andy Krueger said...

Kevin, it was great to meet you at the show! I think it's fair to say your first impression of me was entirely accurate :)

Kevin Bandt COnCepTs said...

Ha! Your passion was clear. I am just socially awkward and didn't know what to make of it. Please do this show again someday!