Borin Van Loon
Encyclopedia
Borin Van Loon is a freelance illustrator (since 1976). He is an author, collagist and surrealist painter and has worked for a wide variety of clients in editorial, publishing and promotion. He has created an eclectic collage/cartoon mural on the subject of DNA and genetics for the Health Matters Gallery in London's Science Museum
.
Van Loon published The Bart Dickon
Omnibus of his hero's derring-do in 2005 comprising a surrealist collage graphic novel. Roger Sabin
, a writer about comics
and lecturer at Central St. Martins in London
, England
, said of the Bart Dickon series: "Van Loon’s dapper, nay sartorially gifted, creation Bart Dickon is ostensibly an affectionate homage to the boys’ heroes of the 1930s-40s story papers and comics. But look closer and you begin to see that the wonderful collage style of the stories hearkens back to a different period – namely, the high-water mark of underground experimentation in the 1960s and 70s (think Oz
/IT/Cyclops
) – and that Dickon is a very different kind of hero, again with echoes from that Hippie
era (his intra-dimensional adventuring is pure Jerry Cornelius
, and his left-wing politics
certainly don’t fit the 1930s-40s template). Dickon may be a delightful mish-mash of influences and styles, but call him ‘postmodern
’ and he’s likely to want to ‘teach you a lesson’ – without getting his Jermyn Street
tailored shirt creased, of course."
Van Loon's ‘Introducing’ series of books in eclectic documentary comic-book format are published by Icon Books in the UK, and include: Darwin and Evolution (dealing with the extraordinary legacy of Charles Darwin
) written by Jonathan Miller
; Genetics written by Steve Jones
; Cultural Studies, Mathematics, Media Studies and Science written by Ziauddin Sardar
; Buddha, Eastern Philosophy, Sociology, Critical Theory and Hinduism. Introducing Psychotherapy by Nigel C. Benson displays a typical irreverent, but relevant approach to an abstruse subject by making it accessible to the lay reader in cartoon and design. Van Loon also illustrated Capitalism for Beginners written by Robert Lekachman
; also DNA for Beginners by Israel Rosenfield and Ed Ziff.
The collage comic strip approach to story telling relies almost solely upon found images, serendipity in research and the use of a narrative to bind the images, speech and thought bubbles and text boxes together. The roots of collage comic-strip can be found in the sound-collage experiments of Ron Geesin
, the animations of Monty Python
era Terry Gilliam
, the surrealist novels of Max Ernst
(Une Semaine de Bonté
and 'La femme de 100 têtes), the agit-prop visuals of the Situationists, the psychedelic posters
and graphics of Martin Sharp
and the satires of Biff.
Borin Van Loon has written, designed and illustrated two model-making books: DNA - The Marvellous Molecule which enables the reader to build a colour model of the double-helix structure discovered in 1953 by Francis Crick
and James D. Watson
with Maurice Wilkins
and Rosalind Franklin
; and Geodesic Domes where the models celebrate the pioneering work of Buckminster Fuller
. He also painted many oil studies and designed the diagrams for the Letts Pocket Guide To The Weather.
/blankpage was a collaborative project with sixteen other artists belonging to Freelance (which Borin chairs) created for Ip-Art 2004. It consisted of a book as an art object with pages in widely varying media, all put together by a bookbinder. This now has a permanent home in the Suffolk Record Office, Ipswich.
Science museum
A science museum or a science centre is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in museology have broadened the range of...
.
Van Loon published The Bart Dickon
Bart Dickon
Bart Dickon is a character created by artist and writer Borin Van Loon. Dickon, styled as 'The Ideologically-Sound Secret Agent', first appeared in comic strip form in the British publication 'Brain Damage' in the late eighties. This surrealist collage comic strip was entitled 'A Severed Head'...
Omnibus of his hero's derring-do in 2005 comprising a surrealist collage graphic novel. Roger Sabin
Roger Sabin
Roger Sabin is a writer about comics and lecturer at Central St. Martins in London, England. He is best known for his book titled Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels: A History of Comic Art and has also written newspaper articles on the topic of comics.-Books:...
, a writer about comics
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
and lecturer at Central St. Martins in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, said of the Bart Dickon series: "Van Loon’s dapper, nay sartorially gifted, creation Bart Dickon is ostensibly an affectionate homage to the boys’ heroes of the 1930s-40s story papers and comics. But look closer and you begin to see that the wonderful collage style of the stories hearkens back to a different period – namely, the high-water mark of underground experimentation in the 1960s and 70s (think Oz
Oz (magazine)
Oz was first published as a satirical humour magazine between 1963 and 1969 in Sydney, Australia and, in its second and better known incarnation, became a "psychedelic hippy" magazine from 1967 to 1973 in London...
/IT/Cyclops
Cyclops (comics)
Cyclops is a fictional character, the leader of the X-Men superhero team in the . A mutant, Cyclops emits a powerful energy beam from his eyes...
) – and that Dickon is a very different kind of hero, again with echoes from that Hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
era (his intra-dimensional adventuring is pure Jerry Cornelius
Jerry Cornelius
Jerry Cornelius is a fictional secret agent and adventurer created by science fiction / fantasy author Michael Moorcock. Cornelius is a hipster of ambiguous and occasionally polymorphous sexuality. Many of the same characters feature in each of several Cornelius books, though the individual books...
, and his left-wing politics
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
certainly don’t fit the 1930s-40s template). Dickon may be a delightful mish-mash of influences and styles, but call him ‘postmodern
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...
’ and he’s likely to want to ‘teach you a lesson’ – without getting his Jermyn Street
Jermyn Street
Jermyn Street is a street in the City of Westminster, central London, to the south, parallel and adjacent to Piccadilly.It is well known as a street where the shops are almost exclusively aimed at the Gentleman's market and is famous for its resident shirtmakers Jermyn Street is a street in the...
tailored shirt creased, of course."
Van Loon's ‘Introducing’ series of books in eclectic documentary comic-book format are published by Icon Books in the UK, and include: Darwin and Evolution (dealing with the extraordinary legacy of Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
) written by Jonathan Miller
Jonathan Miller
Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE is a British theatre and opera director, author, physician, television presenter, humorist and sculptor. Trained as a physician in the late 1950s, he first came to prominence in the 1960s with his role in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe with fellow writers and...
; Genetics written by Steve Jones
Steve Jones (biologist)
John Stephen Jones is a Welsh geneticist and from 1995 to 1999 and 2008 to June 2010 was Head of the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment at University College London. His studies are conducted in the Galton Laboratory. He is also a television presenter and a prize-winning author on...
; Cultural Studies, Mathematics, Media Studies and Science written by Ziauddin Sardar
Ziauddin Sardar
Ziauddin Sardar is a London-based scholar, writer and cultural-critic who specialises in Muslim thought, the future of Islam, futures studies and science and cultural relations...
; Buddha, Eastern Philosophy, Sociology, Critical Theory and Hinduism. Introducing Psychotherapy by Nigel C. Benson displays a typical irreverent, but relevant approach to an abstruse subject by making it accessible to the lay reader in cartoon and design. Van Loon also illustrated Capitalism for Beginners written by Robert Lekachman
Robert Lekachman
Robert Lekachman was an economist known for his extensive advocacy of state intervention, and for a debating style characterized by slow, sing-song speech and circumlocution....
; also DNA for Beginners by Israel Rosenfield and Ed Ziff.
The collage comic strip approach to story telling relies almost solely upon found images, serendipity in research and the use of a narrative to bind the images, speech and thought bubbles and text boxes together. The roots of collage comic-strip can be found in the sound-collage experiments of Ron Geesin
Ron Geesin
Ronald 'Ron' Geesin is a British musician and composer, noted for his quirky creations and novel applications of sound. He is probably best known as the orchestrator and organizer of Pink Floyd's "Atom Heart Mother" in 1970, after the band found themselves hopelessly deadlocked over how to...
, the animations of Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
era Terry Gilliam
Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
, the surrealist novels of Max Ernst
Max Ernst
Max Ernst was a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was one of the primary pioneers of the Dada movement and Surrealism.-Early life:...
(Une Semaine de Bonté
Une Semaine de Bonte
Une semaine de bonté is a graphic novel and artist's book by Max Ernst, first published in 1934. It comprises 182 images created by cutting up and re-organizing illustrations from Victorian encyclopedias and novels.-History:...
and 'La femme de 100 têtes), the agit-prop visuals of the Situationists, the psychedelic posters
Psychedelic art
Psychedelic art is any kind of visual artwork inspired by psychedelic experiences induced by drugs such as LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin. The word "psychedelic" "mind manifesting". By that definition all artistic efforts to depict the inner world of the psyche may be considered "psychedelic"...
and graphics of Martin Sharp
Martin Sharp
Martin Sharp is an Australian artist, underground cartoonist, songwriter and film-maker. Sharp has made contributions to Australian and international culture since the early 60s, and is hailed as Australia's foremost pop artist...
and the satires of Biff.
Borin Van Loon has written, designed and illustrated two model-making books: DNA - The Marvellous Molecule which enables the reader to build a colour model of the double-helix structure discovered in 1953 by Francis Crick
Francis Crick
Francis Harry Compton Crick OM FRS was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist, and most noted for being one of two co-discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953, together with James D. Watson...
and James D. Watson
James D. Watson
James Dewey Watson is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist, best known as one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA in 1953 with Francis Crick...
with Maurice Wilkins
Maurice Wilkins
Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins CBE FRS was a New Zealand-born English physicist and molecular biologist, and Nobel Laureate whose research contributed to the scientific understanding of phosphorescence, isotope separation, optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction, and to the development of radar...
and Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Elsie Franklin was a British biophysicist and X-ray crystallographer who made critical contributions to the understanding of the fine molecular structures of DNA, RNA, viruses, coal and graphite...
; and Geodesic Domes where the models celebrate the pioneering work of Buckminster Fuller
Buckminster Fuller
Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller was an American systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, futurist and second president of Mensa International, the high IQ society....
. He also painted many oil studies and designed the diagrams for the Letts Pocket Guide To The Weather.
/blankpage was a collaborative project with sixteen other artists belonging to Freelance (which Borin chairs) created for Ip-Art 2004. It consisted of a book as an art object with pages in widely varying media, all put together by a bookbinder. This now has a permanent home in the Suffolk Record Office, Ipswich.