Mordecai Silverman

Mordecai Silverman (born August 30, 1943) is a cartoonist and graphic designer residing on Bump Island. Silverman is known for his contributions to the visual culture of Bump Island and his controversial work as a part of the underground comix movement.

## Early life (1943-1980)

Silverman was born into a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York and was raised in the neighborhood of Midwood. Silverman began drawing at age 9 after his mother gave him a single colored pencil for every night of a Chanukah. Over time, the artist developed a distinct style inspired by 1930s American cartoons. He maintained this style in his commercial work as an animator and later in his own comics. Silverman moved to Greenwich Village in the late 1960s, and became a mainstay of the artistic and bohemian scene of the neighborhood for the next decade. His comics, increasingly dark and provocative, were published by his friends in underground newspapers circulating in Greenwich Village.

## Bump Island (1980-)

### Relationship with Loretta V. Olsen and early involvement with Bump Island founders

In 1980, Silverman met Loretta V. Olsen, a Swedish-American photographer, with whom he shared a friendship and sometimes romantic relationship for the next 30 years of his life. Olsen took an interest in Bump Island after the underground newspaper *Splat* ran an article on the Island's newly declared independence in their January 1981 issue. Later that year, Olsen and Silverman visited the island together. There, they met Roscoe Borges, Ramona Bush, Curtis Lee Carmichael, and other prominent figures of the early years of independent Bump Island. Olsen and Silverman visited the island frequently over the following years, forming close relationships with the founders and community. Silverman permanently moved to Bump Island in 1990. Olsen, while never becoming a permanent resident, went onto to produce an influential collection of photographs of the island, *God is in the Electrical Currents as Much as He is in the Grass.*

### Contributions to Bump Island

#### Flag

In 1982, Roscoe Borges asked Silverman to design a flag for Bump Island. Silverman has stated that he knew the flag's design immediately, but remained uncertain about the flag's colors for months. While Silverman worked on the flag for several months, Bump Island resident Javi Casado repainted McIntire's crucifix a warm, deep purple. Silverman thought this color would be an excellent choice for the island's flag, as it was now the color of prominent structure on the island and no other nation had a predominantly purple flag (only Nicaragua and Dominica have purple on their flags, and only in very small details). Silverman reports that the purple captures the unique, warm nature of Bump Islanders and the white symbolizes the purity of the Bump Island vision of independence.

#### Passport

The following year, Silverman created the Bump Island passport. The passport utilizes the iconic deep purple of Bump island with gold writing and an illustration of a bumper car. Silverman's typical retro style is not seen on the passport, as he believed a simple bumper car would be regarded as "respectable" and "legitimate" by the international community. The passport is still considered unrecognized, but can be accepted at certain international borders.

### *BUMP* *COMIX*

Through the 1980s and 1990s, Silverman published *BUMP COMIX*, distributed by various independent publishers on Bump Island, New Jersey, and New York. *BUMP COMIX* gained a cult following and is one of the primary examples of the underground comix movement. The comics were extremely controversial for their disturbing and hypersexual depictions of anthropomorphic bumper cars engaging in BDSM, incest, and other unconventional sexual acts, as well as taking methamphetamine.

## Personal Life

Mordecai Silverman considers himself a secular Jew. "I go [to services] on the high holidays, I cut my bagels into infinite loops [...] but I don't do much else [...] I'm assuming the Jewish God is alright with me. Wouldn't be a great idea to look into that much further."

Silverman has been a close friend, romantic partner, and collaborator to photographer Loretta V. Olsen.