Once works of art were no longer made for certain people or reserved for the enjoyment of a select few, as happened after the French Revolution, new forms of aesthetic experience became open to every member of the community. Every individual was promised aesthetic equality—each and every person, without exception. … The hierarchy among a work’s subject, form, material, and interpreters was leveled, and the consequences of this aesthetic revolution were therefore shattering. … Even when we offer a critique, armed with elegant theories, all too often we soon find ourselves exchanging glances with the enemy and joining them for a picnic. Should we not mark out a new space in which those who are not yet deemed qualified to criticize—the ordinary “Zhangs and Lis”—can be given room to show what they can do?
—Lu Xinghua, A Study of Rancière’s Aesthetic Thought
About Rags Drum
To foster the reproduction of more and better criticism and research on ACG culture, and to encourage exchange among those who produce it, Lab on Roof decided to continue its annual program in 2022 with the third call for submissions on ACG criticism, under the name:
Rags Drum 2022
Eve Festival Selection Results
After three months of submissions and judging—and with our sincere apologies for procrastinating for a week and missing the promised announcement date—Lab on Roof now announces the works and authors that passed the Eve Festival review. The order below carries no ranking.
Entered in Both the Eve Festival and After Festival
Five authors and their works passed the preliminary Eve Festival review:
- Isolde, Singing Between Two Worlds (《在两个世界之间吟唱》)
- Colisa, Becoming a Magical Girl in a Side Story (《成为外传的魔法少女》)
- 一条, The Art of Animation Direction: Rediscovering Takashi Anno and Naohito Takahashi (《动画的演出性：安浓高志与高桥直人的再发现》)
- 「 」, Modernity Not Overcome: The Absent Origin and Subjectivity—Letter Mysticism and Science (「近代の非超克・欠席した起源と主体性―文字神秘主義と科学」)
- Sairai, Blond Tsundere? Pink-Haired Yandere? A Quantitative Analysis of the Relationship Between Hair and Eye Color and Personality in Japanese Animation (《金发傲娇？粉发病娇？日本动画发色瞳色与性格关联之量化分析》)
Entered in the Eve Festival Only
Two authors and their works entered only the Eve Festival and passed its review:
- 河豚酱酱酱, Perception Everywhere: Experiences and Research on How 2D Animation Handles Eyebrows, Eyes, and Hair (video, 19:02)
Under the previously announced rules, each work that passed the Eve Festival will receive an honorarium of RMB 200–300.
Let us celebrate!
Other Notes
We thank the jury members for volunteering their work as manuscript reviewers. They are:
A group of enthusiasts intellectually and aesthetically equal to their audience!
We thank 初鹿野凪 for creating the event posters and promotional video, and thank the critics, groups, and platforms that offered friendly advice and sincere assistance.
- October 7: entries close for the After Festival, the second half of the combined Eve Festival + After Festival track.
- Second half of October: qualifying After Festival works are announced together. The After Festival ends, concluding the event.
See you when the After Festival is complete!
Given the organizers’ lack of experience, they reserve the right, to the fullest extent permitted by law and platform rules, to interpret and amend the event’s procedures and processes. Critics and readers are asked for their understanding.
Lab on Roof contact: lab_on_roof@163.com
Readers and critics are warmly invited to share and circulate this announcement, join the discussion, and submit their work!
