Zeke vertelt…
1999
The structure of ‘Zeke raconte des histoires’ is an experiment of graphic storytelling. The main story is interrupted by a series of brightly colored images that tell other, absurd stories. Cosey: ‘In ‘Zeke raconte des histoires’ I have entertained myself by using images, to distort them, to use them for different messages, for more uses even.’
‘That’s something that has often fascinated me, this magic of comics that makes that a reader receives a drawing and a text […] and in his head he makes a synthesis which is surely very simple, immediate, no need to think about it. But still, it is a rapid elaboration that occurs and I have entertained myself by playing with it.’
Though, the intertwining of two story lines (the search of Esmeralda and Cheyenne for Zeke; Zeke’s life on the Mekong) and of the absurd stories told by Zeke make for a complex read. Cosey: ‘The readers and the publisher have found the book difficult to read. And I agree. The reader can make an effort, of course, but this effort should be indispensable to reach something that wouldn’t be accessible without effort. Well, here, the effort is too big.’
‘If I can offer the reader the same result without asking an effort from him, I do it. But it is not always easy.’
‘But anyhow, I like the album a lot, I am happy to have experimented.’