Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art

[Jennifer Diane Reitz]

I recently was invited to have my work included in an exhibit of comic artists at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in Arizona. This was a huge honor, as my work was side by side with really famous artists like Basil Wolverton, Jim Woodring, R Sikoryak, Joe Sacco, Rory Hayes, Matt Allison, and Fred Guardineer. Seriously. Me.

Anyway, they did a really fantastic exhibit of my work, essentially turning the entirety of Unicorn Jelly into a wall sculpture that can be read. Apparently it was the hit of the show. Wow.


The exhibit was entitled "Masters Of Collective Reality" and tried to show how comics reflect on how we perceive the world and how the world affects comics... basically the message, I think, was that comics are worth respect, which is a sentiment I wholeheartedly support.

I was contacted and asked if my work could be included, apparently I was an influence on the person who designed the exhibit to be shown at the museum. Again.... wow.



The work done on the part devoted to my work was great. I sent them the entirety of the files of Unicorn Jelly, which they then painstakingly assembled into the sculpture/display seen here. I love how certain panels have been expanded and set on blocks out from the flat background. But what really makes me feel glad is that the panels they choose indicate a robust familiarity with the work itself; the panels were not chosen only for dramatic look, but also for being important turning points in the story itself. That says a lot to me.



........



The idea that I would be considered, by a major art museum, to be in the company of Basil Wolverton and Jim Woodring has really impacted me. Unbelievable. Astounding. Beyond the beyond.

I have been very down ever since the crash of Takozushi; this event seriously causes me to reconsider whether or not I am the failure I imagine myself to be. I thought I would share it with you.


Oh, and apparently, on a side note, I am going to be (one of many) in a music video for the band Mechanical Black. I'll keep you posted if anyone is interested.

[Verreaux]

Recognition. Vindication. Congratulations.

I'm glad to see Unicorn Jelly featured and exposed to a new audience. It's a much deeper and more creative work than most any other comic out there, and highlighting the key points will draw people into the depths of the story more surely than reading linearly from the beginning.

I have been very down ever since the crash of Takozushi; this event seriously causes me to reconsider whether or not I am the failure I imagine myself to be.

...Okay. Regarding Takozushi. I'll be arrogant and blunt and put it like this: You made two mistakes. The first is that you were simply making a rerun of an old work. The second was that the story you chose to repeat was relatively weak. You didn't expand on the story in any way and left the project as nothing more than a technical exercise in painting. These are not mistakes you will make again. The first is a matter of choice. And the second... Jennifer, creative storytelling is where you rock. You didn't fail. You made mistakes. There is a difference. I wish I could hammer this into your head, because I really want to read your next comic. You know, I'm going to correct myself and say you really only made one, singular, all encompassing mistake: You stopped creating the story.

Takozushi wasn't a failure in creative writing; You weren't writing it.

Didn't mean to make that the major part of my post. I wanted to applaud you, not browbeat you. But my criticism tends to come in the form of tough love, and you've been browbeating yourself for the wrong reasons. In my eyes you are a paragon of creative storytelling, and you fell short because you forgot this is where your strength lies.

I think we both know what needs to be done now. I won't say it will be easy - I'll say I know you can do it.

I'll be waiting.

[Jennifer Diane Reitz]

Takozushi wasn't a failure in creative writing; You weren't writing it.

You are utterly correct. I will not make that mistake again; I do not seem to be the sort of person who can be happy illustrating someone elses story.

Thank you for your kind words, as well.

[Verreaux]

HUGS YAAYYY!!!!!!!
It is SO good to hear you say that!

Ahem. We now return to our regularly scheduled seriousness.

[RaharuAharu]

Jennifer,

Please do something, anything. I love the things you draw, I enjoy what you write.

Do reviews of old and new games. Tell us what you think about the latest science news, just do something, you are such a creative person, and we miss you very much. I hope that your work being displayed like this has given you the injection of confidence that you have been missing.


When you go radio silent for soooo long like this... it is just a crime.
Look how many people still visit your forums after you have held off making comics for how long?
You still have fans, and if you do anything, you will have more, many people will come back, more new people will show up.

In short, the tl;dr version. We miss you, please come back.

[draque]

Daaaaamn, girl. Congrats on the display! That's absolutely a life achievement there. If I was anywhere near the area, I would come to see it, but I'm unfortunately a continent away. I really like the effect of the piece put together from your comics, with some of them popping right out of the overall work toward the reader, highlighting particular events.

[Anna]

Oh, and apparently, on a side note, I am going to be (one of many) in a music video for the band Mechanical Black. I'll keep you posted if anyone is interested.

Naah, we're not...

HEY! Do you expect an answer like this? Really??
We're here, ready to hang on your lips.

[Mitsukara]

That's really awesome! I'd love to see that in person, one day, should I ever find myself down in Arizona.

...I have to say, though, I'm not actually familiar with any of the other artists you mention from the museum, though. <.< Perhaps you're more famous than you give yourself credit for?

Also, I must agree wholeheartedly with Raru: I, and I'm sure many others, would love to see just about anything you feel like making. We love your stories and works, and would all be excited to see anything else you'd like to make.

[Anna]

...
Also, I must agree wholeheartedly with Raru: I, and I'm sure many others, would love to see just about anything you feel like making. We love your stories and works, and would all be excited to see anything else you'd like to make.

Jawohl, and there are still some impossible stories and things you should to tell us before breakfast.

[Jennifer Diane Reitz]

Well then... Riley Perry of the group Mechanical Black http://mechanicalblack.com/ sent me a lovely letter asking me to participate in the video for his band's cover version of the theme song from the movie 'Electric Dreams'. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087197/.

I always liked the song, back when I saw the movie (waaaayyy back) and so I readily agreed. The idea is that there will be a computer screen, as in the movie, showing the faces of people in the industry that he and the band admire - Steve Wozniak, John Draper, many others .... aaannnd... apparently, me.

The video he provided to teach me what to do is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl5nw_gxiC4

And my response, for him to use, is here, as a download: http://jenniverse.com/electric%20dreams%20jdr.avi

I don't know how to make it more available than that, sorry.

Anyway, the goal was to lip-sinc with his song, so that in the video, all these people could be singing along in the background.

And that is my music video debut. Or going to be, anyway.

I think it quite neat!

[Argent108]

That is some really cool stuff. I'll have to drive up there next weekend--I live about an hour from Phoenix (in sunny Tucson), plus about another 20 minutes of navigating traffic to Scottsdale. Definitely worth the trip, I wager.

On a different note, I'm sorry to read you consider yourself a failure. I've been there myself; in fact the reason I walked away from the board last year was because I realized I was letting that attitude affect how I interact with people. Feeling this way can pervert everything we once enjoyed. So it's small wonder you've produced nothing in so long if that's how you've been feeling.

It is important to not let our mistakes rule us; though it is also important to remember that we make mistakes. The only proper course is to learn what our mistakes have to teach us and then to move on. That course can be tough one to plot. Sometimes, it seems impossible. Again, I'm writing from experience.

Anyway, I do hope this recent vindication will inspire you to create new things. I've enjoyed your work since I first discovered it. Of all the webcomics I read, which is a fair number, yours have always been the biggest inspiration to me.

Thank you for being you.

[Plasman]

Lotsa cool stuff!!!

This is so awesome! I am so happy for you, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who's happy to see your spirits lifted.

...Does this mean you'll be thinking about starting the comics again? (Maybe not Takozushi, but *cough*whistlestop*cough )

At any rate, it's good to see you happy again!

[Wizard CaT]

[TurtleFlower]

I have ever felt that your work deserves such praise! I know that for myself, it was a very important piece in the process of growing up into the person I am now. I'm really happy that you've been shown, in a very real way, how important and meaningful your work is for the people that love it. I do hope you'll find the time and motivation to create more, or at least to show us any artistic deviations that may develop!