Hypercomics: The Shapes of Comics to Come 

Adam Dant, Daniel Merlin Goodbrey, Dave McKean, Warren Pleece

Adam Dant, Daniel Merlin Goodbrey, Dave McKean and Warren Pleece will explode the narratives in their work from the printed page into the gallery space and beyond. Curated by leading comics expert Paul Gravett, this exhibition responds to the function, history and architecture of the Pump House Gallery, using the building’s unusual architecture to weave a story whose outcome depends upon how visitors interact and move through the space. This episodic experience of navigating through the structure of the gallery, takes on the principle of expanding the narrative potential of the comic in relation to its environment, and applying it in a real (as well as virtual) setting.

“A hypercomic can be thought of as a webcomic with a multi-cursal narrative structure. In a hypercomic the choices made by the reader may influence the sequence of events, the outcome of events or the point of view through which events are seen. ….it’s that element of reader choice and interaction that makes a hypercomic a hypercomic.” –Daniel Merlin Goodbrey

Artist Adam Dant depicts a narrative autopsy of the city as he charts the passage of Doctor London through the digestive tract (and other organs) of the capital, in an all-encompassing trompe l'oeil wall drawing.

Daniel Merlin Goodbrey creates an alternate history for the gallery as an archive for infamous glam-rock dictator Hieronymus Pop and charts a day in the life of its lone archivist.

Visitors to the gallery will inhabit the characters of Dave McKean’s story of childhood betrayal, watching events unfold from the perspectives of the protagonists.

Interacting with Warren Pleece’s animated installation, the audience will be able to pry into the lives of the dysfunctional tenants he has created for his work set in the apartment block Montague Terrace.

Accompanying this exhibition will be a programme of screenings, talks, workshops and events.