Last week, a group of students at the University of the Arts in Oslo were surprised with an out-of-the-ordinary task. They were going to try to create the country’s longest comic strip. Pressed the old fashioned way. Deadline? Two days. Around 60 students collaborated to create a strip of 60 meters based on a character who runs the classic “60-metre”. – They reacted with great enthusiasm and maybe a little sweating, but also took the challenge head on, says associate professor Ane Thon Knutsen at KHiO. The students who study graphic design and illustration at KHiO started the first day of school with a real challenge. Photo: Xin Li / news The long comic strip is about a character who runs the 60-meter dash. Photo: Xin Li / news – I think this is a very fun and social way to start the school term, says student Daigo Kuramoto. Photo: Xin Li / news The cartoon project has been planned by the teachers for a year and is part of an annual tradition they have in the design department at the Academy of Arts – namely to start the school year with a large-scale and almost impossible task for the students. – It is a fairly technically demanding project with a short deadline, says Knutsen. The printing method the students have used is called linoleum printing. They had to cut out the motif with a knife. After the motifs had been cut, black printing ink was placed on top. Caroline Haugland and the other students switched jobs. Had to resort to road selection On the actual printing day, everything went at high speed in Iladalen park in the middle of Oslo. Usually some kind of press is used for this type of printing, but not this time. – Due to the size of the cartoon, we had to go for an unusual procedure, says department manager Martin Egge Lundell at KHiO. The work was created by pressing it with an industrial road roller out in a park, with Lundell behind the levers. After the plates were painted with black, they were carefully run over with the road roller. – I have never driven a road roller before, so this was a bit nerve-wracking, says Martin Egge Lundell. Photo: Xin Li / news He says that none of them have ever tried printing with road rollers before. – We had a timetable of ten presses per hour, says Lundell. The plates were placed carefully with the printed side down and were rolled over meter by meter. Photo: Xin Li / news – The pressure is pressed into the fabric by the road roller. It is the same principle as with potato printing or a stamp, says project manager Ane Thon Knutsen. Photo: Xin Li / news – I have learned that you can achieve an incredible amount in a short time if you work together, says Mikal Diego Rojas Bøckman, showing his hands after a long day of printing. Photo: Xin Li / news The 60 meter long piece of cloth was eventually filled with many different motifs that can be read like a cartoon. Photo: Xin Li / news An alternative sponsor’s week The Elleville project is a different sponsor’s week that several of the students express that they appreciate it. Third-year student Caroline Haugland says she is very satisfied with the result. – I have attended several different schools and much prefer this type of sponsor week. It’s a much better way to get to know each other. Haugland believes this is something more schools should be inspired by. – In normal sponsor weeks, I feel it is easier with exclusion and people who fall outside, whereas here everyone must be involved and everyone contributes equally, she says. – It has been a great way to get started and to get to know each other. At the same time, you create something fun and a little out of the ordinary, says Max Kolstad Henriksen. Photo: Xin Li / news Åsta Sparr is among the students who have taken part. – Now we just have to carry it back to school. Nothing is dry yet, so we have to be a little careful, they say right after the strip has been completed. Photo: Xin Li / news Many of the subjects are very detailed. The students have been given full creative freedom within the theme, and the running figure changes from route to route. Photo: Xin Li / news Shown to the public this autumn When the comic strip was finally printed after many hours, it had to be carried back to school. The ink had not yet dried and therefore could not be added together. The students therefore walked carefully in a row: The long strip in all its glory. Both news and KHiO have tried to find out if there is an official record for the longest cartoon strip in Norway, without success. So far, this is an unofficial Norwegian record. Photo: Xin Li / news Those who want to see the work can look forward to the autumn. Then it will be shown in the capital together with a number of other different cultural elements. – We will show the cartoon at Elvelangs in September, so then everyone who wants to see it can have the opportunity to do so, concludes Ane Thon Knutsen. Hungry for more cultural matters? Read more here:
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This is probably Norway’s longest cartoon strip – news Culture and entertainment
