The Deep Tub and Other Stories

Ben Katchor
Polished T, Parr Street
21st June 2006

Reviewed by Alicia Rose

Polished T Gallery in Parr Street (off Wolstenholme Square) is a venue that embraces art from every corner of the world, and most recently it has been the domain for Ben Katchor - a comic artist who works and resides in New York.

In parallel with ‘Architect Week’, Katchor crossed the pond to come and deliver his ‘comic strip readings’, all of which hinted at construction, manufacture, apportionment, apartment, design, co-ordination and all such nooks and crevices that correspond to architecture. By way of antiquated and vintage slide show with accompanying monologue (which at times was rather monotone), the small audience was transported to a metropolis caricature world of subtle satire at the daftness and dottiness of the human being. The seemingly long and winding maze of story came across in portioned chunks of individual idiosyncrasies. Each mini tale concluded with a delicate and suggestive moral which drew an appreciative chuckle from the gathering. If absolute attention was not paid from the outset, the wit, folly and irony was then easily lost and in some part, as the flat and plodding vocal delivery caused loss of concentration for some.

On the whole, this body of artistic and intellectually creative storyboarding was interesting and is worth its placement in Liverpool, especially with the city’s current state of regeneration.