what follows is a work in progress listing new constraints invented or adapted by members of Oubapo-America and other participating artists. As to whether any of these constraints is productive or interesting, it's simply a matter of giving them a try (although some are perhaps best contemplated as purely theoritcal comics).The list is presented in no particular order and inventors are attributed in parentheses at the end of each entry.
If you have an idea for a constraint, feel free to send it to us. We'll consider it and maybe put it on this list if it seems viable and relevant to the Oubapo mission.
-Alphabet City:26 panel comic featuring letter of alphabet in each panel, in sequence. (Matt)
occult palindrome-variation on palindrome: make a comic of any length where each panel has to appear twice, but the order doesn't matter
(Matt)
-Cent mille millards de Nancy: create a collection of 4-panel Nancy strips where each panel is cut into an independently movable unit (cardstock, spiral binding). A rule of conisitency would be needed, eg each strip features Nancy-other character-silent-Nancy (Matt)
Silent Running: a4-panel comix kit: four basic panels that could be reused repetitively to create new comics (a la Trondheim and Menu). These images would be available for public use. (Matt)
Tracing: find a comics story that you admire for its overall visual composition. Loosely trace the outlines of balloons, captions, characters, objects. Use this new tracing as the jumping off point for a new work, that echoes the composition of the original. (Matt)
Aaron Augenblicks's post-it notes:
no pencilling, no solid blacks, no thick-thin line, no white-out all panels on identically sized post-its, which can be reordered. (Aaron Augenblick)
One cartoonist makes a master template that shows all sorts of overlapping panel shapes. Other cartoonists then select panel shapes from the template and create comics from them. (Tom)
-Through-composed comic
musical principle of never repeating same theme, but creating variations that echo
Not repeating any "thing" throughout comic. Example: text, not repeating the word "the" for instance. Or, a character's head, not repeating - instead showing character's body. balloon in panel ok for panel 2 however. (comics hardware ok) (Jason)
two clef comics, top and bottom parallel strips "harmonize" somehow
-use musical notation: repeat, d.c. al fine, coda, etc. (Jason)
-fixed POVas if from POV of stationary character or camera (Jason)
-regulated distribution variation: 1st panel has one thing (object, word balloon, etc.), 2nd has two, etc. things can be the same or different (Jason)
-Floor Plan: create a story that makes a functioning floorplan, e.g panel one is overhead of room, panel two is connecting room, porch, hall, etc.) (Jason)
-Cutaway Comic: draw a comic that works as a cutaway of a building, where the narrative moves from room to room, attic to basement (Jason, also cf. Pat MacEown, Weasel#1)
Transformation Telephone project:start with given comic and hand to a new artist who does a transformation based on a constraint; new comic is then given to a third cartoonist who does a new transformation, etc. etc. Given cartoonist only sees the most recent transformation (Matt)
return to constraints index
SOME OUBAPO LINKS:
Links in English:
MAP>OULIPO
Site about connecting the arts and sciences.
Matt Madden's Exercises in Style
OUBAPO - AMERICA MESSAGE BOARD
Links in French:
place selling Oubapo book#1. offers brief description
Links to other experimental comics sites:
Lewis Trondheim's random gag generator
Scott McCloud, the one-man comics idea factory
USS Catastrophe has, among other cool items, an ongoing add-a-panel jam comic
Two English language links mimicing Raymond Queneau's 100,000,000,000,000 Poems:
http://www.wordengineering.net/ticker2.html