Arthaus11 Jeff KoterbaThe virtuoso of the visual, the inimitable Jeff Koterba, presented to the fourth Arthaus11 event. One of a surprisingly small band of editorial cartoonists (only around 75 in America!), Jeff offered the sort of perspective to popular culture, politics and social comment that only someone of his caliber could provide. Moreover, as someone who has been struck by lightning and who in 2010 had two of his cartoons fly aboard the space shuttle, it makes sense that during our event we went through a creative exercise that was electric and delivered other-worldly possibilities.

Jeff toured us through the history of editorial and other genres of the cartoon medium, knowledgeably pointing out the growth and progression of this form. He then had the whole group work on ways to develop fresh approaches to rendering a cartoon around an issue. For fun, we all came up with different characters, locations/settings, objects and emotions. From melancholy aliens in strip clubs, through lusty robots with cell phones hanging off a cliff to Wall Street types in a fishing boat… a whimsical, frivolous time with some genuine creative output.

Sorry if you missed out on this super Arthaus11 event. Look out for Arthaus11 Event 5 soon. In the meantime, in the comments below let me know your favorite cartoonist.

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