Artist and author Art Spiegelman spoke to a crowded audience at the Wisconsin Union Theater Monday night. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Maus” spoke on a variety of modern issues but spent a majority of his lecture speaking on the art form of comics.
“We think in … cartoons,” Spiegelman said, justifying the legitimacy of his career as a cartoonist. He said a combination of pictures and words “is the way we store a lot of information in our head.”
Spiegelman went on by providing definitions he found of “comics” and “narratives” in order to “avoid working,” but also to further the audience’s grasp of the language of pictures.
“(In comics), you take time and turn it into space,” he said.
Intermittently throughout a history lesson on comic books and the evolution of underground comix, Spiegelman told his story of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Spiegelman told the eclectic audience that he lived just blocks away from ground zero, and the whole situation made him reevaluate his career.
Spiegelman claimed he never wanted to be a political cartoonist, saying that nothing has a shorter shelf life than a president. He continued to talk about his hopes for rousing an opposition to President George W. Bush again, but “it’s for the wrong reasons.” He explained “business as usual” is the culprit for the new antagonism, stemming from a political season that is bringing out views that oppose the current administration’s policies.
This brought up Spiegelman’s notion that he is “seconds ahead of his time.” He listed instance in which he took views opposite to Bush’s policies a year ago; now those views are in the spotlight.
Though Spiegelman’s political comics have a level of seriousness behind them, he also pointed out that his beliefs were not the only thing to blame for his influx of activity.
“I thought I was going to die,” he said, adding that the thought made him want to write more comics. He told the crowd he just wanted to get one more page out.
Spiegelman also spoke on some of his influences, such as what would become Mad Magazine and the emergence of underground comix in the 1960s. Spiegelman also spoke about a subconscious influence he was fortunate enough to meet — “Peanuts” cartoonist Charles Schultz.
“‘Peanuts’ is like Rice Krispies; it’s everywhere,” Spiegelman said.
He ended his lecture — during which he smoked nearly half a pack of cigarettes — by listing some current cartoonists he reads, such as autobiographical cartoonist Joe Sacco. He described comics as a gateway drug into reading and then segued into a short question-and-answer session.
Laura Rebman, a University of Wisconsin sophomore, came to the lecture as a requirement for a history class.
“I thought it was kind of long,” Rebman said. “I think it’s interesting he thinks [comic books] are such an art.”
Spiegelman was brought to the UW campus by the Center for Jewish Studies, UW Hillel, Chadbourne Residential College, and the UW Department of History.
