Roddy's Film Companion (graphic novel by Robyn E. Kenealy)
Wayfarer Gallery (New Zealand experimental art-gallery)
SOLAR (abstract art, philosophy and haiku poetry)
S.O.L.A.R.
A weblog-gallery of abstract art, comics, poetry and essays relating to metaphysics, philosophy, physics,
linguistics and semiotics. Featuring the artworks of Dick Whyte and the writings of Phylis Johnson, Reginald
Webber and Frater Taciturnus Junior. Past contributers include Brady Hammond, Draw and Robyn E. Kenealy.
S.O.L.A.R. is an acronym for the "Science Of Linguistic-Aesthetic Research" and is primarily interested
in the connections between words, letters, images and pictures. Solar is also interested in the basic
patterns which underpin philosophy, aesthetics, religion, physics and linguistics. Solar is an interdisciplinary
junkyard dedicated to the contemplation of patterns and structures.
From December 2008 to the present, Solar has consistently updated two or three times a week with
new artworks, comics, essays, haiku poetry and assorted philosophical musings. Click on the image
below to enter the world of Solar.
RODDY'S FILM COMPANION
Web version of Robyn E. Kenealy's graphic novel based on the life of Roddy McDowall (famous
for his role as Cornelius in Planet of the Apes). Robyn's comic follows his life with his partner John and
his friends Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Montgomery Clift (among others). Although Roddy's Film
Companion is ostensibly a biography of Roddy McDowall, it is not necessarily interested presenting a
'truthful' account of his life. Rather, it explores the limits of 'truth' and 'fact' in historical texts through
fictionalization. In this sense it is an example of what Linda Hutcheon called 'historiographic metafiction'
(the fictionalization of 'real' or 'truthful' events and the placement of real people in fictional situations).
Roddy's Film Companion is also a meditation on how we view 'stars' and queer culture (influenced by
the ideas of Richard Dyer and Vito Russo). As Robyn writes, Roddy's Film Companion is a "musing on
the phenomenon of celebrity itself, as applied to both author and subject."
From December 2008 to the present, Roddy's Film Companion has consistently updated
two or three times a week with new pages from the life and times of Roddy McDowall in comic form.
Click on the image below to enter the world of Roddy McDowall.
WAYFARER GALLERY (coming soon)
A weblog-gallery of avant-garde and experimental art from Wellington, New Zealand,
curated by Dick Whyte and Robyn E. Kenealy. The Wayfarer Gallery has been collecting
art for close on ten years now and features the work of Rick Jensen, Ruby Nekk, Tim Wyborn,
Smiley, Bek Coogan, Mark Whyte, GCR, Alex Greenhough, Hamish Clayton and many more.
