A Not Sublime Me
Hailing Liu#SocialCommentary #GraphicNovel #ThisIsAStoryHappensinChina #SportGamesMascot #OverWorkingCommuter
A Not Sublime Me is a short graphic novel (still in development) made by Hailing Liu. The story of the novel is set in the background of contemporary China, showing the life of a youth (Pan Ni, 潘倪) who just graduated from school and works as a teacher. The story intends to depict Pan Ni’s omnipresent feelings of being repressed and alienated by the social environment and normality.
Starting from a first-person perspective, the narratives of this story are advanced through daily psychological depictions by Pan Ni. Pan Ni keeps struggling with their own life issues during the pandemic but finally gets involved in a series of dramatic affairs related to a sports games mascot that looks like them.
The graphic novel is made to response to current cultural and political controversies in the context of China - working hours systems, gender inequality, human trafficking(especially women), representations in social media and extreme propaganda of patriotism in the context of China.
As a long-term project, A Not Sublime Me is still a work in progress. The main story and basic visual design is shown in this exhibition, and the final idea for this novel is to publish it as a physical book with a more completed graphic and layout design. For more further updates about this novel development, please check this official Instagram account: @not_sublime_me
︎ read the full version of the novel
︎ more images for the visual design
