John Mejias' puppet show at Silent Barn. Photo by Marcela Pardo

John Mejias, I'm Wurried

On Thursday, December 12, 2013 at The Silent Barn, The Clocktower presents John Mejias' I'm Wurried, a shadow puppet play. This project is based on a collection of recordings, in which Mejias’ students talk about their worst fears. Using overhead projectors and colored transparencies, Mejias creates a color shadow puppet show illustrating these anxieties. The puppet show reaches its Zenith at the end as the audience dons homemade 3d glasses to reveal the show in all its optical glory.The puppet show, which is the latest work of Mejias, is preceded by Julia Wertz's reading and is followed by Jeffrey Lewis on stage.

John Mejias is a New York based artist who teaches art at a public school in the Bronx and Manhattan. Mejias has taught art to grades preK-8th for over a decade. Mejias is the editor of Paping, the comics zine for punk public school teachers. Mejias’ zine cleverly illustrates the complex dynamics of idealistic teaching, retrograde bureaucracy and social stratification in education. He is currently a member of the art collective Partyka and member of the band Huge Actions.

Jeffrey Lewis is a comic book writer, artist and musician based in New York city. Lewis is the self-publisher of the comic book series called Fuff. Lewis has recorded several albums: The Last Time I Did Acid I Went Insane (2001), It's the Ones Who've Cracked That the Light Shines Through (2003), 12 Crass Songs (2007) between many more. He has performed internationally and among musicians such as Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Devendra Banhart, Devo, The Mountain Goats, Thurston Moore, The Fall, The Vaselines, Roky Erickson, The Moldy Peaches, Cornershop, Adam Green, Akron/Family, Black Dice, Au Revoir Simone, The Television Personalities, Jarvis Cocker, etc. Lewis is currently creating a soundtrack for the film Radio Unnameable and writing/drawing a 9-page comic book biography of Woody Guthrie for the Paul Buhle-edited book Bohemians.

Julia Wertz is a Brooklyn comics artist and writer born in the San Francisco Bay Area. Wertz was first recognized due to her comic strip titled The Fart Party which was widely acclaimed. After the strip's success, she retired The Fart Party, and started the Museum of Mistakes site. In 2010, Wertz published Drinking at the Movies , her first full-length graphic memoir. She has also published The Infinite Wait and Other Stories (2012) and is currently running the blog Adventure Bible School about urban exploring.

John Mejias, I'm Wurried +

Interviews and recordings from the premiere of art educator and artist John Mejias' revelatory shadow puppet play, I'm Wurried, performed at The Silent Barn in Brooklyn, New York. I'm Wurried is based on a collection of recordings compiled by Mejias in which his young students talk about their worst fears. Using classroom materials, such as cellophane and overhead projectors, the play visually narrates these anxieties. The puppet show concludes with the audience donning homemade 3D glasses and Mejias' colorful world comes to life. The evening also included supporting performances by Julia Wertz and Jeffrey Lewis. Known for her graphic novels Fart Party and The Infinite Wait and Other Stories, Wertz performs a reading of comics and selections from the diary she kept as a twelve year old. Songwriter, illustrator, and writer Jeffrey Lewis performs three biographical comics. His first chronicles the life and times of Woody Guthrie year by year. The second comic gives a history of the life of Alan Moore (Swamp Thing, Watchmen). His final performance recounts the life of Sitting Bull, a Lakota Chief that stood up to encroaching settlers in the 1800s.