Red Laser Hits the Big City (1994)
When things are baffling they usually don’t unbaffle themselves. There’s just, you know, a certain amount of baffling stuff that always, like, really baffles you, and I’ve found that it’s best to accept bafflement whenever it comes along, and then move on.
–Dean Koontz, One Door Away From Heaven (2001)
Bafflement is the right word here.
Whenever I shuffle through my early work, I always stop and smile at this little piece. Part of that smile comes from not knowing exactly how it came about or what the hell I meant by the title scrawled across the bottom– Red Laser Hits the Big City.
I can probably guess but I honestly don’t remember.
My best guess is that it was one of those pieces where I am simply experimenting with color and form. Experimenting might not be the right word. More like practicing or rehearsing. Seeing how consistent I could create these blocks of color. That process was the actual building block of much of my early work, one where I would apply a dark layer of sepia ink in the shape of whatever I was trying to paint then pulling off most of the ink by dripping water into the center of that form and using my brush to lift it. This pushed pigments to the edges of the shape and revealed a much lighter center into which I then dripped a lighter transparent color, in this case an Indian Yellow.
This was early on in the process, so this was watercolor and not the acrylic inks that became a staple for my work. I am pleased at the saturation I got here with the watercolor. The inks are much more heavily saturated with pigment which makes for a richer color. As I said, I did a pretty good job here with the saturation and consistency though a few blocks are darker meaning I lost control of the process and hurried as they were drying. I was still gaining the control I needed for later work.
Like I said, this was probably just a rehearsal for a later performance.
Now, where that red thing came from is another thing altogether. I don’t remember if it came before or after I started painting the blocks. Don’t know if it was the chicken or the egg. And why it has its shape with that triangle at the bottom baffles me completely. However, I can see where it might fit into the title since even now it reminds me of the stride of someone walking. And its red was strong enough to remind me of a laser and the yellow blocks suggested the stone blocks of large building in a city–I guess.
I don’t really know. I just smile in bafflement every time I look at it. But it’s a pleased bafflement, especially since I know that this probably served a great service in refining my later work. It did what it needed to do.
I just hope that the Red Laser somehow made good in the Big City. Maybe it transformed into a Red Tree?
Hmm. Who knows?
Here’s a song from the great bluesman Jimmy Reed about taking on the Big City. I stumbled across some old blues albums from the 50’s and early 60’s in a record shop when I was about 16 years old from legends John Lee Hooker, Mississippi John Hurt, Elmore James and Jimmy Reed. These albums, especially the JohnLee Hooker and Jimmy Reed albums were filled with one great song after another and made a huge impression on me. This song remains a favorite. This is Bright Lights Big City.