MCLC: cartoonist Satan Lucky

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: pjmooney <pjmooney at me.com>
Subject: cartoonist Satan Lucky
******************************************************

Source: Danwei (8/29/13):
http://www.danwei.com/satan-luckys-floating-world/

Satan Lucky’s Floating World
By Alexander Ye

Satan Lucky is the pen name of cartoonist and illustrator based in
Beijing. He publishes some of his work on Weibo
<http://weibo.com/1271187335>. His style is based on Ukiyo-e — literally
“pictures of the floating world”, the traditional Japanese style of
woodblock prints and paintings of nature, history, scenes from the theater
and of geishas and other urban decadences.

Some of Satan Lucky’s cartoons depict fantastic beats that seem to have no
connection with contemporary reality, while others can be read as critical
commentary In the gallery below, for example, 404 (the error number most
Web browsers indicate when trying to access a blocked site in China) is
depicted as a beast that sits on the computer, blocking access to Youtube
and Facebook, while Flesh Net Beggar refers to the way in which
resourceful people can avoid paying fines to the Flesh Net Beggar and
“jump over” the Great Firewall.

In Red Bean Mermaid, a mermaid tempts men into the red-dyed river outside
a chemical factory into the water, and Throwing Pigs is a reference to the
6,000 plus dead pigs that floated down Shanghai’s Huangpu river
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-21766377> in March this year.
The Crooked Heart Mirror ”cannot be seen with human eyes but accompanies
people wherever they go,” according to Satan, is an allusion to the
different values on either side of China’s generation gap (代沟) and the
problems that this phenomenon has created. Meanwhile, the Baby-Frog, with
its terrible wail, is a comment on the forced abortions and infanticide
that have tarnished China’s one-child policy. The Ti Ru Cow (or substitute
milk cow) produces poisonous milk. Masses Fight the Ox alludes to the
public frustration with huangniu (literally “ox”, but actually refers to
ticket scalpers) who monopolise the supply of tickets for everything from
train journeys to football matches.Tendon-pulling macaque refers to the
problem of shoddy building standards hidden behind the gleaming façades of
some of China’s new constructions. Stories in the Kiln features the ghosts
of miners who died in a mining disaster, who require nothing more than an
audience to be reincarnated.

Danwei asked Satan Lucky a few questions about his life and work and we
present the answers together with some of his works, published here with
his permission. A further selection of his work can be viewed here

<http://satan1988.diandian.com/?from=inf&wvr=5&loc=infblog>.

(Q) When did you start drawing cartoons, and when did you incorporate
social and political themes into your work? Have there been any particular
turning points in your career?

(A) I first studied drawing when I was a teenager, but it was not until I
was in university that I actually started doing anything creative. Even
then, it was still not until I had gotten a job that I began to draw
cartoons involving social and political themes. As for any turning points,
it’s not quite like that. When you think for yourself, you want to express
something with a link to the time that you are living in.

(Q) Why have you chosen to paint in a Japanese style?

(A) I’m a member of the post-80s generation, so I grew up watching
Japanese cartoons. Ukiyo-e has had a real effect on me. Naturally, this
has had a considerable impact on my work. Still, I’ve also been inspired
by Chinese styles, such as Jiezieyuan (芥子园). My work is not just affected
by Japanese drawing. (editor’s note: Gaiziyuan, translated as “Manual of
the Mustard Seed Garden,” is the famous early Qing painting manual which
served as a guide to many late Imperial and early Republican painters,
among them Qi Baishi.)

(Q) Why did you choose the name ‘Satan’?

(A) I didn’t put a whole lot of thought into it. I was bit of a fool when
I was younger, and I thought it was a very cool name. But now I can’t be
bothered to change it because people I know from art circles recognize me
by it. Anyway, in the end it’s just a nickname.

(Q) You have said that “cartoons and writing are both forms of
expression”. What do you think are the similarities and differences
between them?

(A) From my perspective, they are of equal standing as tools for
expression. But for the public, they are not quite on par with each other.

(Q) Why does so much of your work focus on ghosts and goblins? Is it
because you want to use them as analogies for what you really want to
describe?

(A) I can’t say for certain. Ghosts are evocative of strange goings-on.
Indeed, this is why people from ancient times created the concept of
ghosts in the first place. But I don’t draw in order to explain things of
the ordinary and unknown. I just draw these cartoons to keep carrying on
with my passion.

(Q) There are so many political cartoonists who are active on Weibo, how
do you feel about this situation?

(A) It’s great that there are so many cartoonists. They use their own pen
to express their ideas – what’s bad about that? Drawing political cartoons
is first and foremost a mode of employment. I don’t have a particularly
strong opinion about that. Each one of them is brightening up social media.

(Q) Is cartoon-drawing your principal source of income?

(A) I make most of my money through my cartoons, but I don’t have a
contract – I work as a freelancer.