After “Icy Hands” which addressed global warming, MarieMo returns to sea with “Pied à terre, an expedition aboard the Ocean Viking”. An informative, aesthetic and touching comic strip in which the Neuchâtel artist recounts twenty-five days spent aboard the humanitarian ship.
Graphic designer and illustrator, MarieMo has more than one string to her bow. In 2018, the Neuchâtel cartoonist took a boat trip – in an artist residency – to Greenland. This was followed by a publication, “Les mains glaces”, a comic strip in the form of a report on the fragility of the polar world.
A few years later, MarieMo wanted to delve into another cause that is close to her heart: that of migration. In a perfect alignment of the planets, it turns out that its publisher has a contact at SOS Méditerranée Suisse. On February 2, 2023, MarieMo boarded the humanitarian ship.
Strength of the drawings
When opening “Pied à terre”, the first thing that catches the eye is the expressive and meticulous universe of MarieMo. The artist likes black and white and drawing with a pen, for the spontaneous side and the small imperfections that this brings.
We will also note the artist’s excellent photographic memory, because the days aboard the Ocean Viking are long. Like any member of the crew, she must learn life-saving gestures and procedures. The notes and the first sketches were made in the evening, in the cabin, alongside the boat’s communications team.
An ultra-detailed logbook
As an unconditional fan of Guy Delisle – author known for his autobiographical comics such as “Chronicles of Jerusalem” or “Escape, Story of a Hostage” – MarieMo also produces comics reports.
His drawings faithfully transcribe the history of rescues in the Mediterranean Sea, the geographical maps of the rescue zones, the survival kits distributed on board, the waiting times, the horizon scanned with binoculars, the marked bodies, the distress, the respite (often too brief).
Far from the anonymous figures communicated every week in the news on the tragedies which strike the Mediterranean Sea, “Pied à terre” allows us to discover more precisely the mission and the daily life of those who work aboard the Ocean Viking, an island of humanity in the face of general indifference.
Sarah Clement
MarieMo, “Pied à terre – an expedition aboard the Ocean Viking”, Antipodes editions, September 2024.
