Surrounded by the work of one of the earliest masters of the art of caricature, four cartoonists for The Dartmouth explained the motivation behind their work to a small crowd yesterday in the Hood Museum of Art.
Ben Means '95, Chris Miller '96, Brigid Pasulka '94 and Geoff Swire '94 spoke to an audience of about 40 students and Hanover residents.
The event was arranged by the Hood to showcase the students' work and that of James Gillray, an English satirist and renowned 18th century political cartoonist.
Miller said he likes his work because it allows him to break some traditional rules of journalism. "If I were to write an editorial column, I'd have to back up my opinion with facts," he said. "But if it's a cartoon, people just say, 'That's the way its supposed to be.'"
Pasulka said she strives for several qualities in her work, the most important of which are truth and relevance. She said that is why her strips sometimes take on a more serious tone.
The other qualities she strives for are subtlety and effective writing.
Pasulka said the toughest thing about cartooning at the college level is that it is difficult to distinguish the personal from the public life of student leaders, since they are part of a close community.
That makes it "hard to divorce a person from their beliefs," she said.
Swire and Means both discussed cartoons in which they had parodied sexist views, and the response of offended readers.
"I hope people realize it's the character talking, and not me," Swire said.
Swire said the philosophy of his cartoons is the absurdity of life. "We have all these ridiculous worries," he said, "but in the end, what does it all matter."
He likened cartooning at Dartmouth to "swimming in a shark tank," because of the political atmosphere.
"The best cartoons come from the gut," Swire said. "They take a stand on something."
