In Conversation with Alessandro Baronciani

How can intermediality be conceptualised and expanded within a medium that is already intrinsically intermedial such as graphic novels? The diverse artistic output of Italian graphic novelist and designer Alessandro Baronciani (Pesaro, 1974) is an excellent vantage point to observe these dynamics. Our conversation, conducted by email over the summer, touched upon the inextricable intermedial relation between music and comics, the use of “special effects” in graphic novels, his new “book-in-a-box” (Come svanire completamente, 2016) and the anachronism of what we thought once as the future of comics.

Alessandro Baronciani started his career with an experiment bridging the gap between author, characters and readership: for five years (1999-2003) he photocopied, stapled and distributed his comics by sending them by subscription to an ever-expanding pool of readers who would then also become part of this incessantly developing story – “Gli abbonati mi mandavano le lettere e un po’ alla volta le loro storie diventavano parte del mio fumetto” [“The subscribers would send me letters and little by little their stories would become part of my comics”] (comesvanirecompletamente.it). I would argue that Baronciani’s experiment with his “fumetti postali”, now available as Una storia a fumetti (Black Velvet Editrice, 2006), highlights early on some crucial aspects of the author’s unorthodox approach to his chosen medium.

Firstly, his focus on self-production and distribution, clearly inspired by the experience of self-produced indie music, allows Baronciani a higher degree of freedom from the constraints of works published and distributed along traditional channels. This also streamlines the enactment of his intermedial experiments – his recent tour with musician Colapesce (Concerto disegnato, 2015) is a good case in point for the in-depth intersection between music and comics and also highlights the centrality for Baronciani of the idea of the “one-off”: artworks and performances which are unique and “in the moment” and as such impossible to replicate. Also his books often play on the principle of unrepeatability and give the readers the chance to build up their own versions of the narrative: from his early story printed on badges to his recent Come svanire completamente, the stories are broken down and scattered, waiting for the reader’s intervention to be deciphered and reconstructed.

This unorthodox approach to story-telling is also reflected on the physicality of his works that often include “special effects” that turn the story into a multi-sensorial experience. In particular, his 2010 book Le ragazze nello studio di Munari (Black Velvet Press) pays homage to Munari’s revolutionary inventiveness by stretching the confines of printed comics with various experiments in cartotecnica: A3 panoramic views, paper “windows” – used to expand the story in unexpected directions –, colour coding techniques to visually express the emotions of the characters on the page, unusual textures, pop-up and origami-like tricks link Baronciani’s book to Munari’s pre-libri and kinaesthetic experiments – “Volevo che la gente conoscesse le sue invenzioni e la meraviglia che si provava quando si sfogliava Nella nebbia di Milano” [“I wanted people to discover his inventions and the amazement experienced while leafing through The Circus in the Mist (1968)”].

If Will Eisner famously wrote that “the most important obstacle to surmount is the tendency of the reader’s eye to wander” (Comics and Sequential Art, 1985), in Baronciani’s works the readers are lured and encouraged into wandering around, in-between and across pages and media.

For further details about Alessandro Baronciani’s work, please visit his blog/webpage here