Lia
This comic deals with my personal struggles and experiences with green (in-)justice. I wanted to create a comic that is very personal to me, yet could be understood by others. The story describes the way I interacted with nature throughout my life and tries to capture an emotion I think many people moving to the city can relate to. It is only natural (at least to me) that oftentimes in life we desire a status quo either unattainable or contrarily to what we were given naturally. Many people move to the city, not only to fulfill a career but also to experience a reality that is constantly moving, innovating and challenging itself, dirty and loud. I think especially young adults can relate to this. We reject our familiar, calmer, greener environment to move to a place just as busy and full of life, as we are. However, as I grow older, I find myself longing for a place that is just a little bit slower. A place for recreation. This comic captures this ambivalence I carry inside me and is expressed through a medium I understand best and that also has always been a way to express myself: drawing.
Image description for the media project “Grey”
The comic consists of 10 pages, digitally drawn in black and white
1st page:
On the top of the page the first image shows the lower body of a kid standing outside. The child is wearing a raincoat and rubber boots as it is raining. It is holding a teddy bear. The text says: “I spend most of my childhood with my grandparents who live in a pretty rural area in Berlin”
On the lower half of the page an illustration of a child’s hand feeding a horse a carrot, can be seen. Text: “I always had a lot of green around me. Oftentimes I went to the nearby paddock with my grandparents to feed the horses.”
2nd page:
On the left a child is sitting by a pond and feeding ducks. At the top of the image a butterfly is flying. Text: I liked watching butterflies and feeding ducks and fish at the nearby pond.”
The right of the page side is divided in an upper and a lower picture. The upper picture shows three high-rise buildings. Text: “My mother lived in a plattenbau. I did not really like it there.”
The lower image is all black, with only the white silhouette of water dropping. Text: “My memories of that place are soaked in grey.”
3rd page:
Text: “When I became a teenager all I wanted to be was the complete opposite of what I once was.”
The upper image shows an angry looking woman saying “I hate all the green! I hate the silence! I hate the air that smells like dung!”
The bottom of a page has an Image with a hand hanging out of a car window, holding a lit cigarette. Text: “I romanticized the cities’ pungent smell of gasoline and the stench of trash at every street corner during summer. Grey turned into the color I wanted around me at all times.”
4th page:
Upper image: the woman is sitting in a corner of a dimly lit room that is filled with moving boxes. Text: “I got my first apartment when I turned 18. I was really disappointed that it was still in the outer districts of the city.”
Lower image: The woman is staring out of her window. Outside is a street, bushes and trees and a small store. Text: “In front of my window there was this bistro I didn’t really care for. But one day that store closed.”
5th page:
Text: “And they started to build a new building. Losing the bistro meant losing all green and my window view was now a grey concrete block.”
Image is stretched across the entire page. In the background is the same window as on the previous page but now the view is grey and blocked by a monotone building. In the foreground is the woman holding bags. Text: “I moved again last year…”
6th page:
Text: “I really like my new view but it is also very grey. I hear cars, trains, sirens all day.”
The skyline of Berlin, Alexanderplatz is depicted on the page. It looks very monotone.
7th page:
The image on the upper part of the page starts with a text saying: “At least there is that small patch of green near my home. Oh wait… they are building an office there.” Then an office in construction can be seen
The lower image starts with the text: “But there is this community garden I like. Oh wait…”. The text is followed by a drawing of a community garden, however in the foreground one can see a sign hanging that reads: “Closed as we could not extend our lease agreement.”
8th page:
A part of the Spree river is depicted in the upper image. Inside the spree are bottles and other trash. Text: “At least there is the Spree nearby. Oh wait… I forgot how dirty it was.”
The lower image reads “At least I still have my beautiful view…” followed by an illustration of a newspaper article that has “New major construction project on Alexanderplatz” as the title.
9th page:
Text: “When I want to relax, I leave, together with my friends, to a place far off the city. I made a lot of my fondest memories outside.”
The two images show a car driving on a sunny day on a lonely road on the countryside and the worm’s-eye view from inside a forest towards the sky.
10th page:
The last pages’ background is black with closed eyes in the foreground. Text: “I close my eyes and wish I could return to this place where I feel so at ease. And wonder how many people feel the same way I do.”