September 2011 Featuring

N-SPHERE a world behind curtains | september 2011 Featuring

Q. R. S.

G. B. Piranesi

TAXI DRIVER

Daniel C. Alarcon

Blood AXIS

The Bat Man N-SPHERE SEPTEMBER 2011 EDITORIAL TRANQUILIZERS

When trying to pull yourself together, its way of unexpectedly crawling under you might end up tearing yourself apart. the skin. Even through isolation, even The knowledge of self, as impervious to through imposing the most unthinkable the scrutiny of outsiders, is slowly and of experiences, the outside sometimes tediously losing ground. We shadow tears apart both self and ego, creating ourselves with mirrors, reflecting ex- struggle and bond, both contoured skil- pectations, observing external desires, fully by Scorsese's Taxi Driver. accepting the torment of others. But what if, from a tiny crack in the silver, But what if - and this is purely hypothet- one would forever be bound into look- ical - the world inside projects itself out- ing inside instead of taking a joyride on side the mirrors, creating unimaginable outsider superpositions? creatures that lurk under the shadows? Then the answer is simple, my friend. Introspection, the desire to know the Create your own blood-thirsty, revenge- self, the ultimate fight with the ego, seeking, spine-crashing hero. Born from the sudden denial of contemporary the darkest recesses of the mind, this homogeneity, all these flow against the psychotic release exists only in what is stream. In the Quadreria Romantico Se- knows as fantasy, a terribly scary place riale works, time flows backwards out- if you ask me. The story of Batman is side the mirrors, allowing the self and not far from it. Even though throughout the ego to meet and do what they do the comic's history this idea has had best: be themselves. In other words, not multiple representations in film and ani- knowing who you are might eventually mation, the basic plot does not change, retaliate in a blissful existence, but oh- as this almost demonic character is built so damp and languid and blank, even from traumatic experiences. with walls tapestried with Pinaresi's sur- real Carceri d'Invenzione. Twilight comes and you find yourself staring at yourself. There are things Self-sufficiency, self-analysis, self-knowl- that are not meant to be undone in this edge might not be urged from inside world... and the human spirit is one of vel Thora sources, as the world around also has them.

| 2 INDEX

September Abuse Chains & 2 2011 34 Showcase 88 Scissors Editorial Blood Axis How to Drop Dead Tranquilizers Allerseelen in a Wasteland Andrew King Fum Live in Belgium

glass Nox eYE 4 showcase 60 Showcase 92 teaser Quadreria Daniel Campos Santiago Caruso Romantico Seriale Alarcon Argentina Italy Chile

stone CLOCKWORK 20 showcase 74 Showcase Giovanni Battista How Dark is the Piranesi Dark Knight?

moving Hanging 26 showcase 84 Cages »I'm God's lonely man« Denial-of-service Exploring the open sewer. Taxi Driver Review

3 | GLASS SHOWCASE QUADRERIA ROMANTICO SERIALE

| 4 GLASS SHOWCASE QUADRERIA ROMANTICO SERIALE

5 | WILL Mask RANK RULE

Name: fragmentary. Gottfried Benn's Doric Quadreria Romantico Seriale is an alias, world. an impersonal project. This choice is an Currently favourite artists: homage to the premodern art, when the QRS attends the ancient flemish Idea, the Structure and the Act were painters, a group of viveurs and relevant, not an individualistic name. one situationnist. It's opposed to Location: the contemporary creativity, which QRS was generated in Italy, on an is »so updated«, »so informed« and ancient pilgrimage road named Via consumed by civilization. There is Francigena. an anthropological incompatibility Occupation: between these aspects and the »serial QRS works as an instrument, a uniform, romantic« attitudes. a function referring to a metaphysical Tools of trade: order. Everything that can be used to make Definition of personal sphere: a sign, to define a shape. Not only for QRS is a pictorial project for a »born an artwork. posthumously« ecclesia. A style for Current obsessions: tactile gazes. The »Quadreria« is Obsessionally against the invasive Romantic because it believes in the presence of the »nice and friendly« Mith's action. It's Serial because it lives vacuity. QRS is looking for a spiritual, (and reacts) in this »serial age«, among affirming and sober form of beauty. digital skins and reproducible souls. Personal temptation: Artwork in 4 words: QRS has desires and fears, but, for its Will. Mask. Rank. Rule. nature, it hasn't any kind of temptation. What is inspirational for you: At the moment it has this deep desire: The courage. The ritualistic and an Art actualized in the daily life. For a cultural art. The monumental and the new Beginning, and for the End.

| 6 photo | Quadreria Romantico Seriale. Priestess (detail). 2005. Oil and silver acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist.

7 | photo | Quadreria Romantico Seriale. Dancing Red. 2007. Oil and silver acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist.

| 8 photo | Quadreria Romantico Seriale. Collegium. 2008. Oil and silver acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist.

photo | Martin Bladh. DES - The Scrapbook11 | photo | Quadreria Romantico Seriale. The Lady is wounded. 2011. Oil and silver acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist. photo| 12 | Martin Bladh. DES - The Scrapbook photo | Quadreria Romantico Seriale. Mystic Trainer. 2005. Oil and silver acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist.

photo | Martin Bladh. DES - The Scrapbook13 | photo | Quadreria Romantico Seriale. Chanson De Geste. 2011. Oil and silver acrylic on board. Courtesy of the artist. photo| 14 | Martin Bladh. DES - The Scrapbook photo | Quadreria Romantico Seriale. Damnatio Memoriae. 2011. Oil and silver acrylic on board. Courtesy of the artist.

photo | Martin Bladh. DES - The Scrapbook15 | photo | Quadreria Romantico Seriale. Elevation. 2010. Oil and silver acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist. photo| 16 | Martin Bladh. DES - The Scrapbook photo | Quadreria Romantico Seriale. But tell me just a word. 2010. Oil and silver acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist.

photo | Martin Bladh. DES - The Scrapbook17 | photo | Quadreria Romantico Seriale. Impersonal Devolopment. 2005. Oil and gold enamel on coated panel. Courtesy of the artist. photo| 18 | Martin Bladh. DES - The Scrapbook photo | Quadreria Romantico Seriale. New York Stock Exchange. 2005. Oil and gold enamel on coated panel. Courtesy of the artist.

photo | Martin Bladh. DES - The Scrapbook19 | STONE SHOWCASE Giovanni Battista Piranesi

| 20 STONE SHOWCASE Giovanni Battista Piranesi

21 | if I were commissioned to design a new universe, I would be mad enough to undertake it

Name: Connections: Giovanni Battista Piranesi Marco Foscarini, Giuseppe Vasi, Giovanni Lived: Battista Tiepolo , Accademia di San Luca October 4, 1720 - November 9, 1778 Style: Location: Etching & Engraving Mogliano Veneto, Rome Obsessions: Italy Carceri d'Invenzione, Altars, Tombs Occupation: of Rome, Memento Mori, Spiral Graphic Artist, Architect Staircases, Panopticons, 18th century Influenced: Machinery, Labyrinths, Deadends Neoclassicist Artists, Kafka, Escher, Eric Hebborn Quote | Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Associated with: Unknown Source 18th century Engravings, Accademia Diana Daia din San Luca Artists

| 22 photo | Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Plate from the series Le Carceri d'Invenzione. 1761 edition (reworked from 1745). Courtesy of the artist

23 | photo | Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Plate from the series Le Carceri d'Invenzione. 1761 edition (reworked from 1745). Courtesy of the artist

| 24 photo | Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Plate from the series Le Carceri d'Invenzione. 1761 edition (reworked from 1745). Courtesy of the artist

25 | MOVING SHOWCASE taxi driver I'm god's lonely man

| 26 MOVING SHOWCASE taxi driver I'm god's lonely man

27 | Are you talking to me? Well, I'm the only one here.

Play. eyes through the rear-view mirror. At Midnight. You're heading home af- this point, it could be fucking anyone, ter watching this 3D version of a film an erased face whom could make up they've released recently. You're think- for all the lack of excitement at the ing it was not shit all in all, but they cinema and drive you to a deadend. definitely haven't got too far technical- Ten minutes later you could be fac- ly. All those commercials for nothing. ing the ground with no money, twenty Partly waste of money, partly waste of minutes later you could be back in time, partly staring at this guy in front red light district, why waste the time... of you driving you back home. And in 5 minutes time even, the car could you're thinking that you haven't even crash with you in it. But this is not go- seen his face when you stepped in the ing to happen. The film was still crap cab 5 min. ago. You're staring now and though. And this man in front is just Diana Daia you can only catch a fragment of his another taxi driver.

| 28

Rewind. movements, protests against the war angry and lonely men, violence, crime, 1976, the year when Columbia Stu- in Vietnam and its aftermath. Add to and a deadly cocktail of drugs and al- dios released Taxi Driver, did not this the assassinations of John F. Ken- cohol. America was already writing its mark a new juncture in the history of nedy and Martin Luther King, which history of violence, national anxieties the U.S. in terms of political alignment had taken place prior to 1976. All of beginning to surface whilst shadow- or cultural change. A large number of this still weighed down in the Ameri- ing the optimistic façade of the Prom- social processes were already in full can conscience, questioning notions ised Land that populated the cultural progress. Just to name a few: the civil of national safety and independence, imaginary of the previous decades. rights movement impregnated with and let's be honest, to a certain ex- the stains of race riots, countercultur- tent, the American dream myth itself. This ongoing process of demythologi- al manifestations and radical student This period was thus dominated by zation and national destabilization was

| 30 the American society. What the film did was only to render them visible, thus reflecting the morally deficient societal sphere of its time and becoming at the same time symptomatic of future developments.

Taxi Driver illustrates the story of a common man named Travis Bickle who embarks on a personal crusade to restore political and moral order in America. As a Vietnam veteran and nighttime taxi-driver, Bickle (Robert de Niro) internalizes the social anxiety that surrounds him, by witnessing the dystopian scenery that governed the streets of New York during the night. While deceiving his parents into thinking that he is an employee working for the American government, the insom- niac taxi-driver becomes more and more apprehensive about the slums of the city populated by beggars, pimps and prostitutes. In this pessimistic landscape, he finds a 12-year-old child prostitute, Iris (Jodie Foster) whom he tries to rescue from her pimp (Harvey Keitel) and convince her to quit pros- titution in order to return to her fam- ily. In parallel, Travis develops a rela- tionship with Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) whom »appeared like an angel out of this open sewer«, a campaign vol- unteer for Senator Charles Palantine (Leonard Harris).

Having lived there during childhood and youth, Scorsese considered New York to be the best setting for the film. One could argue that he employed it as a metaphor for hell, as something also taking place under the close scru- trum of pessimism and doubt that the that goes on and on while nobody tiny of the camera lens, as directors former Hollywood consensus tried can get out of it. As a Vietnam vet- of the time more or less translated in to cover. Martin Scorsese and Paul eran living in post-war America, Tra- their films the government’s failure to Schrader’s Taxi Driver was located vis’ main scope was to »clean up the ensure a stable future for its citizens. precisely within this developmental whole mess« there, thus becoming an This deconstruction of national myths narrative of violence, as a response to embodiment of isolation followed by of self-improvement were explored the malaise that was infusing the 1970s violent intervention. His anger was not by a new generation of film directors setting. The issues addressed in the directed to a distant frontier, but lo- who were later coalesced under the film did not appear out of a vacuum: cated within the very core of the me- term New Hollywood. There was no the increasing pessimism and alien- tropolis. A straightforward example in indifference: they analyzed the spec- ation were already embedded within this case: even the taxi he is driving in

31 | and out of the sewers functions as a to his status of potential criminal and claims that the motivation also came boundary between his inner thoughts social outsider with a Mohawk haircut. from an earlier event, namely the 1966 and the exterior world. It doesn't stop To make it even more complicated: mass murder case - in which Charles there: Travis’ individualism gradually the protagonist was apparently con- Whitman opened fire on the campus becomes alienation. As a creator of structed using as inspiration real life of University of Texas and killed 14 cultural commotion by disrupting the people. social and political spheres, he is also a creation and a reflector of this en- In the film, Travis decides to undergo a vironment. Torn by his inner anxiet- »Loneliness cleansing treatment similar to a Spar- ies and the determination to change tan purification ritual, considering that his surroundings, he is portrayed as a purgation could only be done through fragmented man living in a fragment- has followed destruction and that catharsis as- ed society. The close-ups and brief sumes self-sacrifice. His passage from cuts of slices of windshields and rear- regeneration to violence, also symbol- view windows also reflect, to a certain me my ized by the marching military music extent, the fragmentation of the pro- heard when he purchases guns, is di- tagonist himself. whole life. rectly linked to the image of New York as Sodom & Gomorrah that needs to Gradually, the film exposes his failed be cleaned and washed away by a attempts to connect with the ones Everywhere. flood (yes, some Christian symbolism around him: starting from his relation- right there). Fire is also used as puri- ships with women and workmates fier for his divine mission (an example: and continuing with his estrangement In bars, he burns away the flowers that he had within the American society itself. He bought for Betsy, thus freeing himself is depicted in terms of Other-ness, from any emotional attachment). psychologically outside the societal in cars, borders, even if he is paradoxically One step further: the taxi driver job living right at the core of the metropo- sidewalks, also turns Travis into a social Oth- lis. Although the link between the war er, thus becoming a faceless per- experience and Travis’ personality is son whose individuality is gradually only implicit in the film, he could be stores, erased. For him, reality is always me- regarded as Other because of his diated through a physical boundary, Vietnam background as well. As a be it either the rear-view mirror of his war veteran, he becomes a signifier of everywhere. taxi or the cinema screen. One good psychological impairment and trauma, scene - displaying an Alka Seltzer tab- thus risking turning into a stereotype There's no let dissolving, depicts this very condi- that incorporates mental instability tion: the camera shifts the focus on and violence. What is interesting is the glass with water, zooms in, thus that he somehow fails to assimilate a escape. I'm creating an enormous close-up show- »coming home« feeling that the Viet- ing the enlarged medicine bubble. nam experience more or less implied. This close-up, maybe paradoxically, For him, home is no place, it is asso- God's lonely does not seem to suggest that Travis ciated instead with »a photograph on is on a gradual route to explosion, a wall and a letter aloud on a sound but vice versa - his anxieties are inter- track«. He mimics the social behav- man.« nalized growing into implosion. This iour that surrounds him, but does not might all seem metalevel talk, but this directly participate to real actions. is real life as well: before shooting the Through this process of staging what sources. According to Schrader, the film,de Niro and Scorsese tried driving is considered to be familiar, he expos- journal diatribes of real life assassin a real taxi on the streets of New York es a farce concerning both notions of Arthur Bremer who shot the presi- to see if passengers would recognize home and romance. Travis’ portrayal dential candidate Wallace in 1972 the actor. Afterwards, Scorsese con- in terms of Other-ness is also linked served as a primary source. Scorsese cluded that de Niro »was totally anon-

| 32 ymous. People would say anything, do When he claims, while staring at his anything in the backseat - it was like reflection in the mirror, that he is the he didn't exist.« only one there, Bickle does not only distinguish an Other staring back from Being depraved of individuality also the mirror (i.e.: one might immediately turned Travis into a mask that could ar- think of Lacan's mirror stage). ticulate both fear and alienation, which were experienced by the population In other words: Taxi Driver is not about at large. Both Scorsese and Schrader a man who is fucked, it goes further projected their own feelings of deso- and claims that we are all more or less lation and rejection on Travis. Scorse- fucked. And how could one counter- se asserted that he knows the feelings argue that? of being really angry that Bickle has, which »have to be explored, taken out Photos | Taxi Driver. 1967. Screenshots and examined«. Drawing a line, Travis’ apparent portrayal as a singular Other seems to point out more towards his commonality, loneliness being central to human existence in general. His condition as an alienated person living in New York seems to reveal the estrangement of a whole generation.

33 | ABUSE SHOWCASE blood axis allerseelen. andrew king

| 34 ABUSE SHOWCASE blood axis allerseelen. andrew king

35 | WHo: Blood Axis where: the steeple. Waregem, belgium WHEN: 19th of august 2011 Line-up: Michael Moynihan Annabel Lee Robert Ferbrache Aaron Garland David E. Williams John Murphy

| 36 photo | Blood Axis live in Belgium. Photo by Ilinca Mihalache. Digital manipulation by Diana Daia photo | Blood Axis live in Belgium. Photo by Ilinca Mihalache. Digital manipulation by Diana Daia photo | Blood Axis live in Belgium. Photo by Ilinca Mihalache. Digital manipulation by Diana Daia photo | Blood Axis live in Belgium. Photo by Ilinca Mihalache. Digital manipulation by Diana Daia photo | Blood Axis live in Belgium. Photo by Ilinca Mihalache. Digital manipulation by Diana Daia photo | Blood Axis live in Belgium. Photo by Ilinca Mihalache. Digital manipulation by Diana Daia photo | Blood Axis live in Belgium. Photo by Ilinca Mihalache. Digital manipulation by Diana Daia photo | Blood Axis live in Belgium. Photo by Ilinca Mihalache. Digital manipulation by Diana Daia photo | Blood Axis live in Belgium. Photo by Ilinca Mihalache. Digital manipulation by Diana Daia photo | Blood Axis live in Belgium. Photo by Ilinca Mihalache. Digital manipulation by Diana Daia photo | Blood Axis live in Belgium. Photo by Ilinca Mihalache. Digital manipulation by Diana Daia WHo: allerseelen where: the steeple. Waregem, belgium WHEN: 19th of august 2011 Line-up: Marcel P, Rene P, Gerhard Hallstatt

| 48 photo | Allerseelen live in Belgium. Photo by Ilinca Mihalache. Digital manipulation by Diana Daia photo | Allerseelen live in Belgium. Photo by Ilinca Mihalache. Digital manipulation by Diana Daia photo | Allerseelen live in Belgium. Photo by Ilinca Mihalache. Digital manipulation by Diana Daia photo | Allerseelen live in Belgium. Photo by Ilinca Mihalache. Digital manipulation by Diana Daia photo | Allerseelen live in Belgium. Photo by Ilinca Mihalache. Digital manipulation by Diana Daia WHo: ANDREW KING where: the steeple. Waregem, belgium WHEN: 19th of august 2011

| 54 photophoto | Andrew | Blood KingAxis live in Belgium. Photo by Ilinca Mihalache. Digital manipulation by Diana Daia photo | Andrew King live in Belgium. Photo by Ilinca Mihalache. Digital manipulation by Diana Daia photo | Andrew King live in Belgium. Photo by Ilinca Mihalache. Digital manipulation by Diana Daia photo | Andrew King live in Belgium. Photo by Ilinca Mihalache. Digital manipulation by Diana Daia photo | Andrew King live in Belgium. Photo by Ilinca Mihalache. Digital manipulation by Diana Daia NOX SHOWCASE Daniel Campos Alarcon

| 60 NOX SHOWCASE Daniel Campos Alarcon

61 | Name: Daniel Campos Alarcon Location: Concepcion, Chile. South America OCCUPATION: Visual - Performance - Tattoo Artist WEBSITE: www.13agujas.com

| 62 photo | Daniel Campos Alarcon. 2003. Left Him For The Birds. Mixed Media. Courtesy of the artist photo | Daniel Campos Alarcon. 2003. Untitled Lithography I. Courtesy of the artist

| 64 photo | Daniel Campos Alarcon. 2003. Untitled Lithography II. Courtesy of the artist

65 | photo | Daniel Campos Alarcon. The Vision. Lithography. Courtesy of the artist

| 66 photo | Daniel Campos Alarcon. Electromagnetic Phenomena: Peace, Or Isolated Wires That Cross. Copper-plate Etching. Courtesy of the artist

67 | photo | Daniel Campos Alarcon. Funeral I. Woodcut. Courtesy of the artist

| 68 photo | Daniel Campos Alarcon. I Dreamt I Lost All My Teeth. Woodcut. Courtesy of the artist

69 | photo | Daniel Campos Alarcon. Day IV. Woodcut. Courtesy of the artist

| 70 photo | Daniel Campos Alarcon. Day I. Woodcut. Courtesy of the artist

71 | photo | Daniel Campos Alarcon. Story Of St. Senefelder's Miracles. Lithography. Courtesy of the artist

| 72 photo | Daniel Campos Alarcon. Old Clothes. Lithography. Courtesy of the artist

73 | CLOCKWORK SHOWCASE how dark is the dark knight?

| 74 CLOCKWORK SHOWCASE how dark is the dark knight?

75 | your choice, gentlemen! Tell me! Or I'll kill you!

Batman is undoubtedly one of the Our classic image of Batman as the most recognized icons in 20th century lonely vigilante with a hidden identity pop culture. The impact & influence & shrouded in mystery who swears of the entire Batman universe & the to avenge his parents' death by con- cult status it has rendered over the stantly fighting against a never ending decades since its inception in the late list of villains & foes & trying to protect 1930s is noticeable in the huge suc- Gotham City from crime has evolved cess of different medias in which the through the years. Not everyone is fa- Dark Knight has appeared over the miliar with the Caped Crusader's ini- years, from extensive series of comic tial 1939 image filled with dark, gloomy books to movie series, films & animat- & grim overtones. In the next lines I ed series to a myriad of merchandise, will try to outline this dark imagery of adrien toys, collectibles & Batmania para- The Bat-Man (as he was known in the seelebruder phernalia. early comic books) by focusing on his

| 76 photo | Detective Comics #27. DC, 1939. Courtesy of the artist first appearances in Detective Com- Caped Crusader then replies that ics, starting with his debut in Detec- this was »a fitting ending for his kind«, tive Comics #27 (May 1939) up until thus emphasizing Batman's mission at Detective Comics #37 (March 1940) maintaining social order no matter the which marks Batman's last adventure costs or ways. Whereas the debut of as a lonely hero, paving the way for the story stated the unknown identity the introduction of his young sidekick of Batman, the end reveals his secret Robin, the Boy Wonder's a month later identity, that of wealthy industrialist & in the April issue of Detective Comics. playboy millionaire Bruce Wayne, who The Batman's debut in Detective constantly tries to hide his alter-ego Comics #27 featured a short story of persona of crime fighter by wearing a 6 pages, The Case of the Chemical bat costume. As Bob Kane originally Syndicate, in which the comic book envisioned him, Batman is by definition hero is introduced as »a mysterious the »obsessed loner«, a creature of the and adventurous figure fighting for night lurking in the dark foggy streets & righteousness and apprehending the buildings of Gotham's gothic scenery, a wrong doer, in his battle against the figure immersed in a shadowy & mys- evil forces of society«. The major influ- terious aura, attributes which define ences in creating and shaping the Bat- him as a grim presence which causes man figure came from different 1930s states of uneasiness & anxiety in the pieces of American pop culture – mov- hearts & minds of wrong doers. ies (like the swashbuckler classic The Mark of Zorro & the obscure mystery In Detective Comics #28 (June 1939), film, The Bat Whispers), pulp stories Batman's attitude lightens up a bit & (their alert style is present throughout there are even some hints at sarcasm the late 1930s & early 1940s Batman & witty humour from the Dark Knight, comics with The Shadow character as especially in his short peer-to-peer dia- a major influence), comic strips (he- logues with the thugs, mobsters & gang- roes like Dick Tracy). The Dark Knight sters who are up to no good breaking was envisioned as a mysterious & the law, essentially the typical foe im- menacing figure for New York City's age which was explored in 1930s Hol- (Gotham City was first used in late lywood gangster movies. An interesting 1940) villains, displaying both brutal & moment is when Batman captures the elaborate skills at fighting his enemies jewel syndicate's boss, Frenchy, ties an by kicking, punching & throwing them end of a rope to a bed & the other to in the air & a keen sense of sleuthing the gangsters waist, tosses him off the & analyzing every detail using deduc- window & threatens to cut the rope tive reasoning in order to track down which would send Frenchy to sheer »the evil forces of society«. Both of death, if he doesn't get a full confession these qualities were fully expressed from the boss. The foe cooperates & in Batman's first appearance, as he is in the end Batman manages to bring seen giving fist after fist & sending his him to justice by dumping Frenchy in opponents hurdling though the air & front of the police headquarters, also in the end revealing himself as a mas- leaving a letter for commissioner Gor- ter of whodunit. The most strikingly don explaining the events. Earlier in uncomfortable moment of this first the plot, Batman was mistaken by the story is near the end when Stryker, police as a member of the jewel syn- the leader of the chemical syndicate, dicate & there are some similar recur- tries to shoot Batman but thanks to ring events in later issues of Detective an agile move, the Dark Knight stops Comics, partly due to Batman's eerie him & with a punch sends him down presence & specific, individual modus in an acid tank to meet his doom. The operandi.

| 78 photo | Detective Comics #29. DC, 1939. Courtesy of the artist

79 | The next issues of Detective Comics, The Monk uses his hypnotic powers on realistic events instead of adding a #29 (July 1939) & #30 (August 1939) on Batman & Julie Madison, Bruce supernatural flavour to the plot. introduced the first major villain in Wayne's fiancée. This is the first time Batman's universe, Doctor Death & we learn of the presence of a woman Detective Comics #33 (November marked yet another interesting mo- in Bruce Wayne/Batman's life & after 1939) marks the first appearance of the ment, when Batman holds some of many perils, like fighting with a huge origin story of »the Batman and how Death's men at gunpoint & threatens gorilla & escaping the bloodthrust of a he came to be!«, showing in no more to shoot them if he doesn't get some than 2 pages the childhood trauma of information from them (»your choice, seeing one's parents getting shot & gentlemen! Tell me! Or I'll kill you!«). dying on the streets in a gloomy night. This is when Death's assistant, Jabah who is We then are witnesses to a personal enters the room & shoots Batman oath declaring eternal war to the who manages to escape only thanks nemesis of crime & almost 15 years of to the deadly gas from one of his utility intense training from physical perfec- belt glass pellets. This moment clearly tion & athletic feats to mastering the marks the difference between the ex- sciences & detective skills with the traordinary yet supernatural powers The help of which Bruce Wayne is ready of the other major hero of the Golden to become that »weird figure of the Age of Comic Books, Superman, & dark« & »avenger of evil«, The Batman. the limitations of simple human abili- The story then follows the actions of ties, skills & power. Batman manages a minor villain named Kruger, a luna- to surpass & defeat his enemies only bat tic with a Napoleon complex who, in by using physical & intellectual power. the end, dies when his plane hits the The whole Batman universe is about water. Nearly all the early villans end exploring the inner substance of our- up dying whether it takes one issue selves, the human psyche, the way we or two for the plot to unfold its tragic deal & cope with our deepest fears dénouement for Batman's enemies. & existential traumas; this limited yet man, The same pattern is applied in some natural, real, tangible pattern is used of the next issues [Detective Comics in creating Batman's world, including #34 (December 1939), Detective Com- his arch-nemesis. The end of issue #28 ics #35 (January 1940) & Detective illustrates a similar point of view as Comics #37 (March 1940)], in which that in the early line »a fitting ending daddy? the villains, a mad scientist called Duc for his kind«, when after seeing Doctor D'Orterre, criminal mastermind Sin Death succumbing in a powerful fire Fang (whose real identity of Sheldon in his laboratory, Batman concludes pack of werewolves, The Dark Knight Lenox is revealed in the end by Bat- by saying »Death… to Doctor Death« finds a way of defeating The Monk & man through Holmesian deduction) or, in other words, you reap what you Dala & breaking the spell that was set & foreign agent Count Grutt (who is sow, in the end everybody gets what upon his beloved one by shooting the also Elias Turg), each meet their doom they deserve, especially the wrong two vampires with two silver bullets in different ways: D'Orterre dying in a doers. while they are asleep during the day- car accident, Sin Fang/Sheldon Lenox time. »Never again will you harm any falling through an open window & Starting with another set of two issues, mortal being« proclaims Batman as he hurdling to death, while foreign agent Detective Comics #31 (September shoots The Monk who was resting in his Count Grutt/Elias Turg who ends up 1939) & #32 (October 1939) which in- coffin & yet again Batman is seen hold- being impaled upon his own sword. troduce another villain, The Monk, the ing a gun & this time pulling the trigger plot tends to incorporate supernatu- proving that he can go to any limits in Detective Comics #36 (February 1940) ral motifs. The Monk is a vampire who order to save his loved one. Following introduces Batman as »already an can also morph into a werewolf, has these issues, DC editors considered it almost legendary figure« and 1940 a female ally named Dala, makes Bat- would be wise to leave out the lethal clearly marks a departure from the man face a giant gorilla & »has uncanny weapons such as guns as far as Bat- rigid nature of the hero's character powers«, like being able to hypnotize; man was concerned & to focus more to a more lightened up vigilante, one

| 80 photo | Detective Comics #27. DC, 1939. Courtesy of the artist who constantly makes funny & witty es an arch enemy that will prove his when a little boy is shown asking his remarks & has a way with words (like match, Professor Hugo Strange, a sci- father »who is The Batman, daddy?«, »let's pretend I'm the ball and you're entist & criminal mastermind who is and the parent replies »a great man, the pins!«) as he does with fists thrown the first in a long line of villains that son, a great man!« while a nearby ra- in every direction thus ridiculing his doesn't get killed at the end of the dio broadcast announces »and so we thug adversaries (»you boys are a bet- story. Although he is imprisoned at citizens of this city owe our thanks to ter workout than the gym!«). He even the state penitentiary, there are clear one man, The Batman! Because of him makes fun (»so you wanna play cops signs of his vile intentions of escaping an arch-criminal is at last captured!«. 'n' robbers, eh?«) of some slow police- & revenging himself upon the Batman. men who mistake him for a murderer This is the first time when citizens of In the last issue of Detective Comics just because he happened to be near New York City (future Gotham City) upon which I focus, namely Detective the scene of the crime & he can even express their gratitude towards Bat- Comics #37 (March 1940), after man- be seen smiling in some strips. In this man and signal a direct appreciation aging to foil & stop the wicked plans Detective Comics issue, Batman fac- & recognition of his noble mission of foreign agents who try to sabotage

| 82 photo | Detective Comics #27. DC, 1939. Courtesy of the artist an American ship in order to generate This emphasizes Batman's key role in a-Book with Rare Collectibles from the an international crisis which might lead providing security & hope not just for Batcave, Running Press, 2009 to armed conflict, Batman displays a a city's citizens, but for an entire nation. ½ Roberta E. Pearson (editor) & William cold & pragmatic judgment by reason- Uricchio (editor), The Many Lives of ing that the bitter & tragic end of the Further reading: the Batman: Critical Approaches to a head of the operation would have al- ½ Les Daniels, Batman: The Complete Superhero and His Media, Routledge, ways been the first choice (»Dead! It History, Chronicle Books, 2004 1991 is better that he should die!«), instead ½ Bill Finger & Bob Kane, Batman ½ Mark D. White (editor), Robert Arp of a situation in which armed conflict Chronicles, Volume One, DC Comics, (editor) & William Erwin (series edi- between states might have had terrible 2005 tor), Batman and Philosophy: The costs on the lives of many Americans ½ Robert Greenberger, The Essential Dark Knight of the Soul (The Blackwell (»He might have sent thousands of oth- Batman Encyclopedia, Del Rey, 2008 Philosophy and Pop Culture Series), ers to their death on a battlefield if his ½ Robert Greenberger & Matthew Man- Wiley, 2008 plans had been successful!«). ning, The Batman Vault: A Museum-in-

83 | HANGING CAGES Denial-of-service

| 84 HANGING CAGES Denial-of-service

85 | My brain just went into safe mode

A passer-by once told me, in the ap- It was shown to me how the magic of plause of unknown spectators, that the mirrors twists and distorts even he thought the idea obsolete, and the simplest of perceptions, turning that my efforts will do little good to it into a haze out of which undoubt- help those around me with their own edly one always comes out darker burdens. than one was. It was shown to me the cold and heartless behind the I was told that not all want to be mirror of their dishonest eyes. saved, even if from my childish point of view I see myself as some sort of Finally an angry flashback reminded out of date knight in not so shiny ar- me I’m not as invincible as I thought mor, version 1.5, with some bugs fixed I was, and so, in the fading of the and others self generated, not yet the clouds up above, the grasshopper’s laughing stock of the modern »hero relentless piercing noise keeps me of the day« archetype but somehow almost sane, not so sane however as close by. to fully and completely deny the use and opportunity of a complete make- I was told that the man in me is crip- over. Such will be the circumstances pled, broken and puny, specialized in of the future, and, whatever the end mopping up ruins and dealing with they will bring, one must understand currencies long excluded from the and grasp the grand scheme of things trade, and it was shown to me the hi- to some extent. lariousness of every sunrise, true kiss, bahak b and meaningful smile. My brain just went into »safe mode«.

| 86 photo | Bahak B. Courtesy of the artist CHAIN ZCISSORS

| 88 CHAIN ZCISSORS

89 | Vel Thora | How to Drop Dead in a Wasteland. Courtesy of the artist

| 90 Diana Daia | Fum. Courtesy of the artist

91 | EYE TEASER SANTIAGO CARUSO Argentina

n-sphere magazine | ISSN 2068 – 620X Sfere.ro © 2007-2011 all rights reserved. The reproduction of all material presented in the N-Sphere is restricted. The photographs and portfolios are property of the respective artists. For editorial matters, please contact the gallery. graphics &layout: Diana Daia | www.in-circles.org words: Vel Thora, Bahak B, Adrien Seelebruder, Diana Daia contact: [email protected]