O Brother Man: The Art and Life of Lynd Ward

This is Pat again, checking in for my final blog post of the semester!

Again I decided to change to topic up a bit this week and talk about an event I attended last friday (after hearing The Von Shakes in the HUB). In Paterno Library at 2:30 on friday afternoon, I sat down to watch a film entitled "O Brother Man: The Art and Life of Lynd Ward". The subject of the film was a man named Lynd Ward, who is known as the father of the American graphic novel because of his major influences to the world of storytelling through pictures. "O Brother Man" featured over 150 pieces of Ward's art, particularly his woodcuts, for which he was famous. For those who don't know, woodcutting is the process of carving out detailed pictures on boards of wood and, after applying ink to the carvings, pressing them onto a piece of paper. This results in a mirrored image of what was carved on the wood. Ward was famous for 6 wordless woodcarving graphic novels, including "Gods' Man", "Madman's Drum", "Wild Pilgrimage", "Prelude to a Million Years", "Song Without Words", and "Vertigo". What I found so interesting about the film and the woodcarving novels specifically was that they were so well executed. Furthermore, the woodcarving novels were totally wordless, and yet had the ability to convey emotion and tell a better story than some authors today can do with 3 or 4-book series. Ward’s subject matter was very serious as well, as the film detailed, and many of his woodcuts pertained to life during the Great Depression, wordlessly discussion things like corporate greed and the dichotomy of good and evil in unrestrained capitalism that still resonate with us today in 2012. I know I keep coming back to it, but the fact that Ward’s novels were totally wordless were what really blew me away. All of the stories are so clearly defined and the actions and emotions very much in evidence, despite not having the words with which to describe what is going on. I think this really takes the idea of the graphic novel to another level, removing the “novel” part and emphasizing the “graphic”. Ward’s daughter Robin Ward Savage, who was interviewed in the film, was also present at the viewing and introduced the filmmakers themselves, after which they took questions from the group. Savage talked about her father as well as his work, and her own understanding of just how important he was not only to society, but to the world of graphic novels as well. If you’re ever in the library and need something to do, I highly recommend checking out some of Ward’s pieces, found in the Rare Books room. You may not be able to take them home, but taking the time to read Ward’s work is time well spent.

Thanks for reading and following our blog! Have a good rest of the semester and remember that on a campus as large as PSU’s there’s always something to do, all you have to do is look for it!