“As Fluent as Possible”
Raymond Pettibon was born in 1957 and creates a “marriage of text and image” in his work, making “more of a narrative than a cartoon.” Although he does not consider himself a political artist, Pettibon does not shrug away from subjects either. He enjoys making light of horrible things in the world by creating characters and juxtaposing them with text. “What makes a ‘character’ ridiculous?” Pettibon creates alternate universes to get lost in their motifs and meanings because they often tend to be better than our own world we live in.
In a classroom setting, Pettibon’s work could be used at all ages although some of his images would need to be censored for younger grades. Ones particularly suitable for younger students are his motifs about trains and baseball. As an art projects, students could identify areas of their life they identify most with and form graphic projects on these ideas. Students would learn how to marry text and image in a cohesive way as well as using line and composition to aid their intentions.
All quotes in this passage come from his Art21 episode.
Sarah Kedzior 