I am soliciting $4,500 to manufacture a giant steel dip pen and penholder for public demonstration and display. I hope to promote the understanding and use of this beautiful piece of ancient technology through a series of performances, as well as create an art object in itself.
The pen, as he's imagining it, would be over 7 feet tall. Woodring plans to learn how to draw with it so he can draw comics in public. The adorable video explaining this project (with a little bit of insight into his work) is here.
And I've been reading every interview with Woodring I can get my hands on in preparation of the profile I'll be writing for our Genius Issue. This interview with Henry Chamberlain is one of the better recent examples:
HC: If you could be a fly on the wall, anywhere and in any time period to witness something, when and where would you be?JW: I would be in Dakshineswar, India, in 1875, sitting at the feet of Sri Ramakrishna.
In conclusion: Every new thing I learn about Jim Woodring makes me love him a little bit more.
