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Bukowksi & Co

Between 2013 and 2014, Ward made a series of comics based on poems and short stories by Charles Bukowski (19)-(20)-(21)-(22). He published a few of these illustrated poems as zines, placed some on Tumblr and threw others away. They are melancholy stories, snapshots of the lives of marginalised people (see: Outsiders). Bukowski’s words flow beautifully over Ward’s illustrations. For a while, he played with the idea of collecting them as a Bukowski anthology. In the end, he decided to set the project aside, making time for his first collaboration with Enzo Smits. The result: Wolven (‘Wolves’) (23).

For the limited edition of Ik kom van ver, maar blijf niet lang ('I Have Travelled Far, But Won't Stay Long') (24) he made an audio cassette (25) with music by Misled Youth, the fictional band from the book. This soundtrack mixes in a brief Bukowski quotation between the songs. In one scene, the characters even talk about the writer.

Bukowski was certainly not the only writer to inspire Ward, who read a great deal and was often almost obsessively fascinated by particular writers, including David Foster Wallace, Roger Vandevelde, Henry David Thoreau and Johan Daisne. The song F.R.A.N. by Loloman (see: Loloman), for example, uses samples from the film adaptation of 'De man die zijn haar kort liet knippen' (‘The Man Who Had His Hair Cut Short’). The erotic zine 'The Space Between Us' (26) is in turn based on a surreal short story by J. Eric Miller. Ward’s alter ego Loloman (see: Loloman) was conceived as the bastard child of these many literary influences.

Next to his own projects, Ward also often collaborated with likeminded people: musicians, photographers, illustrators or writers. Between 2015 and 2020, Charlotte Van den Broeck was regularly a creative partner. They created a mural at the art festival in Watou, and Ward illustrated the cover of one of her poetry collections that was translated in French, and a poem commissioned by De Warande. In 2020, they created a book for Poetry Week, 'Cosmos, Texaco' (27). This essay combines texts by Van den Broeck with short comics and illustrations by Ward.

  • (19) Zonder titel (‘Untitled’) — Ward Zwart. Self-published: Antwerp, 2014, number of copies unknown, technique: photocopy with cover on pale-yellow paper.
  • (20) Those Marvelous Lunches — Ward Zwart. Self-published: Antwerp, 2014, number of copies unknown, technique: photocopy
  • (21) The Souls of Dead Animals — Ward Zwart, in š! #24: Urban Jungle. Kuš!: Riga, 2016.
  • (22) Twins — Ward Zwart. Self-published: Antwerp, 2014, number of copies unknown, technique: photocopy with cover on yellow paper.
  • (23) Wolven ('Wolves') - Enzo Smits and Ward Zwart. Bries: Antwerp, 2016. Second print run, 2020. Translated into French as Wolven - Même Pas Mal: Marseille, 2018.
  • (24) Ik kom van ver, maar blijf niet lang (‘I’ve come from far away, but won’t stay long’) — Enzo Smits and Ward Zwart. Bries: Antwerp, 2020. Second print run, 2021.
  • (25) Demo TapesMisled Youth. Casper De Geus: Brussels, 2020, 50 copies, technique: audio cassette.
  • (26) The Space Between Us — Ward Zwart. Self-published: Antwerp, 2015, number of copies unknown, technique: photocopy with cover on pink paper.
  • (27) Cosmos, Texaco — Charlotte Van den Broeck and Ward Zwart. PoëzieCentrum: Ghent, 2020, offset in two spot colours with foldout cover.