Riviera Times - The English language newspaper for the French - Italian Riviera and the Principality of Monaco
 04.07.2008 
 

 
 

 

English man designs Nice carnival float

Jeremy Banx speaks 'carnival floats' to The Riviera Times

Jeremy Banx of The Financial Times cartoon fame
Nice's carnival - now in its 124th year - is an international event drawing visitors and float designers from all over the world. Among the creative team this year - including Dutchman Tom Janssen and American, Chad Crowe - is Jeremy Banx, an English man - of The Financial Times cartoon fame - who has already participated nine times to date. He was invited back this year with his winning design of Neoconzilla. The Riviera Times spoke to him from his home in Greenwich. Banx who was educated in London at a French lycée and entertained by French comics such as Tintin and Astérix is the ideal person to translate Gallic humour into visual amusement.

What inspired your float design?
The theme obviously but since it is heavily connected to Niçois legends and myths I interpreted it in the loosest sense. I incorporated super-heros into my design sub-missions and played on words. I really love the idea of an upset mons-ter on the ram-page gobbling up the Statue of Liberty and using the 'free-dom' flame to cause destruc-tion.

The theme this year is ‘King of Bats, Cats, Rats and other legendary creatures’. The French title, Roi des Rata-pignatas, plays on the word 'ra' to signal the start of the Chinese Year of the Rat.

Do you help in the con-struction of the float?
No. My participation ends when I post in my designs. But they usually stick pretty closely to my design. I submitted five designs, because you have to give a choice. Nowadays complex technological systems work inside the floats - it is amazing what they do.

Do the float designers meet?
Yes. We meet at the parade and the organisers invite us out to a lovely dinner. It is a great chance to chat about life in general and gossip about the carnival and the creative process or lack of. It's a bit like doctors discussing patients' cases, whereas we talk about lost patience!

Any anecdotes about the design process?
Not really. The process is a bit like creating my cartoons - I have to put my head down and work and sometimes bang it against my desk. To find inspiration I usually try to capture the mood of the people by listening to the radio and checking the web and talking to people. Des-peration is a great motivator and fear of the deadline.

Will you attend the carnival with your family this year?
I will come down alone for the last weekend. It's a bit crazy for my wife and I to travel with our four daughters.

Designs for 2009 will be worked on shortly after this year's carnival ends with the traditional burning of the King.

The Nice carnival continues until March 2nd. 

P. Farquharson

 

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26.02.2008

 
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