Build your Own Labyrinth with Matt Madden

Comics from constraints

Do you think you could make a comic where each panel only shows an extreme close-up of a hand? Or where each panel zooms in closer to a single object? A comic you can read in more than one direction? 

Many great works of art begin from wilfully perverse constraints or rules such as these, from Georges Perec's famous novel written without the letter 'e' to Al Jaffee's Mad Fold-ins. 

"Build Your Own Labyrinth" is an online laboratory where you will surprise yourself by creating comics in response to seemingly impossible (or simply absurd) rules that will push your creativity into unexpected new areas. But don't be intimidated: working with constraints is playful, like using your crossword or jigsaw puzzle mind in the service of art. You will lose yourself in a lucid trance of "deep play" and when you emerge, you'll be amazed at the directions your engagement with constraints has taken you. 

This course initially ran in a four-week version and it was so popular that the students DEMANDED it run for more time! So we've added an extra two weeks to work on an independent project with feedback and encouragement from Matt and your classmates.

By the end of the workshop you'll have a handful of experimental comics under your belt but, just as importantly, you'll have a firm grasp of a radical and all-encompassing approach to creativity that you will continue to explore in your future work.