To be completed

Since 2009, the Seine-Saint-Denis County Council has been backing “la Culture et l’Art au Collège (CAC)”. This project is based to a large extent on the presence in class for several weeks (40h) of an artist or scientist whose mission is to engage the students in a process of research and creation. 

Tutors: Sophie Darcq, Thomas Gosselin, Amandine Meyer, Gilles Rochier/ comic book writers

Project manager: Mathieu Marion

Objectives:
Parodies, mockery, and self-derision: in this project, the pupils had access to comic books of all kinds, including the most mocking. Helped by a scriptwriter or an artist, the classes used classic comic books to create new pages.

Workshops:
A question of style
By reading and analysing a number of albums he had chosen, the tutor introduced the pupils to various styles in comics; he presented a panorama of the links between comics and parody, by showing how the 9th art has integrated references from other fields of creation: literature, fairy tales, cinema, etc.

Games, exercises and experiments
In the second stage, the pupils explored the narrative potential of comics. They experimented in micro workshops in the style of Oubapo (Ouvroir de Bande dessinée Potentielle), for example by creating very short comics with formal constraints.

Last scenes
With the illustrator's help, the class chose a classic comic book (Tintin, Lucky Luke, Gaston Lagaffe) then transformed and rewrote some pages giving free rein to their imagination. Once they had settled on the story, they drew the various situations and so created their own comic. For this stage, the artist used an easy graphic system and drew some of the scenes himself, under the pupils' guidance.

Outcome:
The pupils' work was published in a volume entitled "To be Completed". About ten copies were presented in their schools in a dedication session. Further discussions were held in the documentation centre.

Outings (selection):
- VISIT TO THE SALON DES OUVRAGES SUR LA BANDE DESSINÉE, PARIS
- MUSÉE DES ARTS LUDIQUES: EXHIBITION ON THE AARDMAN STUDIOS
- SALON DU LIVRE ET DE LA JEUNESSE (MONTREUIL)
- MUSÉE EN HERBE: VISIT TO THE TINTIN EXHIBITION

Schools:
- Class (4th and 3rd) Collège Descartes, Tremblay-en-France
- Class (4th 4) Collège Henri Wallon, Aubervilliers
- Class (6th 4) Collège Eric Tabarly, Pavillons-sous-Bois
- Class (5th Segpa) Collège Antoine Laurent de Lavoisier, Pantin
- Class (6th 4) Collège Le Parc, Aulnay-sous-Bois

Photo: PIERRE ANTOINE