“Dead objects live on”

On Valentine’s Day (thanks internet), Blaise Larmee asked his Twitter followers “does anyone believe in conceptual art anymore?”

This strikes me as a bit of a trick question – when art is a concept, it kind of requires belief in order to exist, or at least to be recognized as art. Otherwise, it’s just stuff, like everything else. This is the central issue that Larmee addresses with Young Lions, his debut novella for which the young artist was awarded the Xeric Grant. Cody (with rosy-cheeks), Alice (a flower in her hair) and Wilson (looking like a bespectacled Yokoyama character) make up a conceptual art group that performs rites and rituals at parties around the trio’s New York stomping grounds. Of the three, the point of view mostly follows Cody on his search for art in life.

(take note, I reveal some plot points in this, so if you’d like to be surprised, read the book first. You can order copies from http://blaiselarmee.blogspot.com. Consider yourself spoiler warned.)

Early in the book, Alice and Cody inform Wilson that Original Content (in art, or anything) doesn’t exist, it’s dead. This is the presumption that Young Lions sets off with. As generally accepted as this premise tends to be, especially now, I don’t think it’s one supported by this book. While the characters initially reflect a jaded apathy, the overall message seems to show the dead end that kind of thinking leads to (of course, I’m not a believer so it could be my reading is informed by own feelings… if so, there’s something to be said about the book not convincing me otherwise). Cody and Alice seem pretty smug and self-aware about the futility of originiality, but neither are very happy.

The location of New York seems important in that it’s the heart of American art, culture, and perhaps inevitably, artsy kids fresh out of art school. The kids in the book occupy this latter category, smoking cigarettes, dropping comments about school and hanging around the New Museum – basically, they’re hipsters. Being in New York also puts them in contact with Yoko Ono, who acts as the guardian angel for the group and the symbolic presence of Art (it is no accident, it seems, that she falls ill and dies in the book. Her memory is invoked in one of the art group’s rituals)

All the characters in the book are drawn as children. Details in the story pinpoint their ages at being in the mid- to late-20s, but to look at them, the big heads, lithe bodies and simple features all identify high school age at the latest. More than a stylistic quality, it serves to be a truer vision of these characters than a more age-appropriate physicality would allow. Youth is a pretty prevalent backbeat that runs through the book, and lends to an interpretation that Cody is really running away from responsibility and growing up.

“More yellow”

The other half of the title, “lions,” is represented by the various spirit animals that are in the book. The meeting at the beginning of the book ends with Cody expressing his desire to live like his cat, Snowball – free of responsibility, subject only to impulse and basic needs. The art group find a potential new member when Holly, a girl wearing a crown (and who utters the line the title of this post is taken from – with cats eyes, no less), happens to become a part of the performance piece taking place. In fact, her act of fainting at the perfect moment becomes the moment of the ritual when it transcends, becoming real art. Interested in seeing if she is the x-factor the group agrees they need, all four roadtrip to Florida. Holly is presented throughout as being something more than she seems, a magical figure. This captures Cody’s attention and draws him towards her as he drifts away from Alice, his current girlfriend.

It helps that Holly is symbolically linked with foxes and cats and other Free animals, living the kind of life Cody dreams of having. Just like his belief in the Death of Original Content, however, this attraction seems doomed from the start (and in fact, there are enough hints that Holly, or at least our idea of what she is, doesn’t really exist). Throughout it all, the ailing Ono is watching, as the students of her art try to exist in a world that she helped form. She attempts to step in a couple of times, contacting Cody via an ineffectual dues ex machine, an abandoned cell phone. She seems to be warning him about the girl, although honestly it is unclear whether she identifies the danger with Holly or Alice. She could be telling him to pursue Holly, and the free art life she represents, or steer clear of her – drastically different readings that could determine the book’s stance on the subject. Any definitive message, though, is made very softly and is pretty open to interpretation.

“A moment of silence for the young”

As an object, Young Lions really is beautiful. The drawings drift in and out of definition, sketched out with pencil. Personally, I like the drawings best when they are more graphic/cartoony – this usually corresponds to when the characters look the most childlike. Panels are arranged in a fairly regular grid pattern, generally with three panels to a page. I was drawn to the word balloons, particularly – like the panels, they’re presented pretty uniformly, regardless of the contents. This lets the words of everyone kind of blend together, allowing song lyrics to slip in, as either being sung karaoke style or as the actual recording. Having read articles by Blaise on the issues of sampling and authorship, I take this as being a conscious and well executed decision.

The use of raps and other lyrics also highlight the excellent timing that Larmee is putting to use in the book. The way a a reflection on the beautiful scenery and dreamy atmosphere shifts effortlessly into the words of John Lennon’s “Oh Yoko” is a particularly nice moment.

In spite of the hipster-centric arguments that go on over at cometcomets and that surround Blaise’s work, to say Young Lions is just a bunch of navel gazing I think is to get too caught up in the surface. I think the message – that true art is out there, that it is transcendant – is a noble one, just that the players as presented are bit misguided in their search for it. Cody searches for something that magnifies real life, makes it something more, something spiritual. He locates this in art, but sometimes, as happens in the final ritual, it doesn’t always work out. Being spiritual or supernatural, this transcendence is not subject to human whims, and sometimes is unattainable.

As drawn to the book as I was, I have to admit that, based on how it made me feel, Young Lions is not quite as transcendent as what it describes. In this way, perhaps it is more conceptual art than comic (I’m not saying I believe that, by the way)? Blaise Larmee’s work has a whole lot going on for it, but in the end, it might come down to whether enough people believe in it. I know that I am very interested in seeing what he’s working on next.

Young Lions comes out officially on April 1st, 2010. You can find out more information on Blaise’s site, where you can also order copies of the book.