SAFARI FESTIVAL FORTNIGHT!
Babak Ganjei is a man of diverse artistic practice. UK small press comics aficionados may know him from his humorous strips in Hilarious Consequences – described by the author as his “first graphic novel about a man worrying he’s going bald, struggling to keep his relationship together and agreeing to play a gig in a toilet. NOT AS DEPRESSING AS IT SOUNDS” – or more poignant autobio comics like Early Learnings.
But Ganjei’s many projects have a range that is far broader than just sequential art. He also recreated scenes from the eponymous Patrick Swayze movie with additional philosophical commentary in Babak Ganjei’s Roadhouse, has revisited a number of sitcom living rooms for Some Places Where I’ve Lived, and created his infamous “blackout poetry” by taking a marker pen to the autobiographies of such notorious figures as Nigel Farage, Jeremy Clarkson and Donald Trump.
He once even gained national press attention (above) for selling six twigs on eBay…
Those wanting to find out more about this contemporary renaissance man should read my interview with him here at Broken Frontier prior to last year’s Safari Festival.
Which brings us to this year’s Safari and Ganjei’s new book debuting there entitled simply #classicdebeauvoir. It’s categorically not comics but we do occasionally take artistic sidesteps here at Broken Frontier when it comes to covering the wider work of some of our favourite self-publishers. If you’re a fan of Babak’s constantly amusing social media presence then you’ll want to grab this book chronicling in photographic form the idiosyncratic nature of the De Beauvoir area of London – as embodied in its discarded refuse!
Below is the press release for the book and some preview images from its interiors…
Babak Ganjei has clung on living in De Beauvoir for eight years. A fancy area of London. Over the last three he has been documenting the character of the neighbourhood by Instagramming the rubbish its residents leave out with the hashtag #classicdebeauvoir. His hope is to find a severed ear like Jeffrey Beaumont in Blue Velvet, or a life-changing amount of money. For now he has had to settle for Tapenade. To celebrate the fast approaching 500th #classicdebeauvoir post Wish Fulfillment are publishing a collection of highlights from over the past three years.
The hashtag has spread so far that Wish Fulfillment, who asked to print this documentation. are based in Glasgow.
#classicdebeauvoir is available to pre-order at www.wishfulfillmentpress.com. It will be launched at Safari Festival on August 12th and will then available from babakganjeiworks.com.
For more on Babak Ganjei’s work visit his site and online store here and follow him on Twitter here. Babak will be exhibiting at Safari Festival on August 12th.
For regular updates on all things small press follow Andy Oliver on Twitter here.
