WHAMMAWHUMP

Additional Information

WHAMMAWHUMP (detail), 1996, work in progress, photo credit: Gary Roll

KAPOW, FWAK, SKAKRAANK, and ZZRAAK are 'toon' words that are included in Lylian Klimek's exhibition, WHAMMAWHUMP. She has created a low-tech video arcade effect through the use of the black lighting on florescent letters on the floor. Visitors are invited to rearrange the 400 fluorescent letters into their own 'toon talk'. Modest cash prizes for the best words or phrases will be awarded. Reading comic books might not be everyone's idea of scholarly research, but, for Lylian Klimek, comics provide raw data for social critique. Cartoon and comic strips are familiar aspects of popular culture. Using them Klimek analyses the role consumerism plays in our society. The contest, undertaken in a spirit of fun, nevertheless exposes pressures for recognition and competition, which structure our consumer ethos. Klimek teaches at the Alberta College of Art in Calgary where she has been resident since 1978. She was born in Humboldt, Saskatchewan.