Page One

YG: D-hand  |  ink on clayboard  |  6 x 6 inches  |  © 2012 Darick Ritter

YG: E-hand  |  ink on clayboard  |  6 x 6 inches  |  © 2012 Darick Ritter

As you should know, I call this group of work the "You Germ" series.

The reason why I'm hovering around that title is the idea that I am not separated from you. Your ideas, gestures, cultural displays (clothing, hair styles, etc.) are almost impossible to ignore and have not affect (infect) me...

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The You Germ series are intended to be a set of individual pieces prepared for typical gallery display (I have plans to cradle them in wood - more later), but I also want them to function as a conventional comic as below:

(Might or might not be the final ordering of the images)

You can begin to see the type of "conversation" I'm wanting to have. They're currently not easy to read at this point (the individual panels), but they are intended to be read. But notice that this is not the same as saying that they are supposed to be highly cerebral. They are not. I just mean that the rhythm of the conversation at this point might be difficult to grasp with only six panels. You need to see a bit more to get the syntax.

Hell, I need to see more.

To help understand where I think I'm going, think about the panels like a call and response pattern. One "person"(panel) gives a sort of display with the intent of making a connection with the other (panel). The second "person" (panel) then draws upon their possible repertoire of signs and builds upon what was previously said to further the conversation.

And so on and so forth...