What would happen if art were to come alive?
What if art wanted something more?
I've had a conversation with my favourite professor, and a theoretical, ideological argument with my favourite sister about the the idea that art can be violence. Said sister comes from the perspective that any and all actions can be considered art. I'll agree to a point, but only when the action/ moment/ image becomes separate from the every day action/ moment/ image by the acknowledgement of the observed and the observer of its separation. Once separate, it becomes imbued with symbolism, subjectivity, and the history, emotions, and psychological state of the artist as well as the viewer. Georges Bataille, French philosopher and something of a misogynist, wrote a pretty fabulous book on the idea of eroticism. In it he states that eroticism is born of breaking taboos and the separation, or dis-continuum of normality. It occurs when an individual (or two, three, or however many you choose) acts in a way that is not for survival, security, or stability, but in a way that is purely for pleasure and sensation, for satisfaction and satiation, and the violent, uncontrolled release of orgasm. In experiencing the moment and the stirring of emotion and sensation, there is a dis-continuum from the everyday self, and the connection to something beautiful and numinous. It's the difference between an act of animal reproduction, and one of sensuality, passion, and joy.
It can also be what happens when an individual experiences art. It is powerful, evocative, filled with the moment, the experience, and as Bataille puts it the "transition from the normal state" to the "partial dissolution of the person" as they have been.
Art is powerful. Art is important. And in the hands of Shaun Simon and Mike Allred, art is alive and pretty pissed off.
Art Operations is a clandestine organisations whose job is to both protect and police works of art, and to protect the public from art that is too dangerous. Such as the portrait of a dude named Jack who escaped from his frame in Whitechapel in 1988. Of course. However, art has decided to fight back. Scarlett, a rather minor work, has escaped in order to create chaos, to demand independence and freedom, and she's willing to do anything to achieve it. Like try to kidnap the Mona Lisa, and turn the Statue of Liberty into a grotesque. And somehow take out the entire population of the Art Ops.
The only things standing in Scarlett's way, are Mona, a long-forgotten comic book character known as the body (There will be NO punching of world-famous works of art!), and the son of the now-missing head of Art Ops. Who after a tragic accident involving attack by graffiti, just so happens to part art himself. This is probably my favourite part of this book. The protagonist, Reggie, is clueless, cranky, with one foot in both worlds. He's liminal, stuck in between, neither on nor the other and pretty confused and pissed off about it. He's also in a state of constant conflict with himself.
He's also a bit of a dick. Which I love.
I'll give Art Ops a 7/10. Allred's artwork is great, and totally meta. The relationships between the characters, human and art alike are fascinating. I'm looking forward to finding out what is going on with the mysterious disappearance of the Art Ops. I want to see how Reggie copes with his dual self. And I am seriously excited by the final page reveal of Reggie's dad, Danny Doll! Who is he? What is he? Is he human? Art? Both? Is this why Reggie is the way he is? And how did the whole thing work between his parents. Vol. 2: Modern Love, is apparently going back to the beginning, and answering the questions about what happened between Danny Doll and Agent Regina Jones.
Yes, Regina named her son Reginald.
Go, Art Ops. Go Simon and Allred. Go Meta-narrative. Go crazy and hilarious moments like this one.....
(BTW, If you liked this one, You'll totally like Mike Carey's Unwritten)
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