MORE MAD MAX

Is Mad Max a zombie film? It feels like it with some of the relentless pursuit.

Immortan Joe as lich-king. War Boys as undead minions.

The ghosts that haunt Max.

"Birth, death, rebirth."

"Survive."

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Tree of Life.

We killed off the tree of life. It's dead out in the "Green Place." And Nux can't even identify it as a tree; the Fall has been that far.

The heirloom seeds of the "Johnny Appleseed" member of the Vuvalini. Passed along to her mirror Breeder.

New crops for the Citadel.

"Hope."

MAD MAX

I just watched Mad Max: Fury Road for the third time. Thoughts are taking shape.

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It's Mad Max through the Looking Glass.

Binoculars. Telescopes. Rifle sights. Windows. (Figurative mirrors.)

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Mirrors.

Max and Furiosa. Furiosa and Immortan Joe. Nux and Slit.

The Breeders and their Vuvalini counterparts. (In fact, one of my favorite scenes is when they first meet each other. There is joy on the faces of the Vuvalini as they recognize "themselves.")

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Symmetry. (Itself a form of mirroring.)

Max as involuntary blood bag at the open of the film. Max as voluntary blood bag at the end of the film.

Immortan Joe and Furiosa both stripped of their mechanical/metal pieces at the same time. (Fatal for Joe, wounding for Furiosa.)

The same actor playing the Toe Cutter in Mad Max and Immortan Joe in Fury Road.

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Echoes/references to the other Mad Max films.

The vehicle. The outfit.

The long hair at the beginning that reminds me of the Feral Kid of The Road Warrior and the Max of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

The Warboys referring to Max as one of the feral people (Feral Kid!).

The doll's head on the back of one of the attackers of the War Rig at the end of the movie—like that worn by Ironbar in Thunderdome.

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The colors.

The rich oranges and reds. (And being mirrored in the massive dust storm.)

The blue of night/dark, with highlights/spotlights of yellow and orange.

That which is chrome and shiny.

The red and black "battle flags" on the back of Immortan Joe's car.

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Immortan Joe, the War Boys, and the promise of Valhalla. A critique of religion? Cults? Society? Power?

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The dependent masses depicted like the inhabitants of Brueghel and Bosch paintings.

MAKING CHALK

[1] The Child and TWT are making our own sidewalk chalk. 2 to 3 tablespoons of liquid tempera paint + 1/2 cup of water + 1 cup of plaster of Paris = our base.


[2] Each bowl of base we make allows us to fill three soap molds (white on left) or two toilet paper tubes or homemade cardboard molds (colors).


[3] Finished chalk, dried for 24 hours, on one of my small lap chalkboards. It's waiting for concrete!

FROST PARK: GOD of RAIN

"God of Rain" by Troy's Work Table. Frost Park Chalk Off. Friday 06 September 2015.

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A few days before the start of meteorological fall (01 September) the weather changed. The heat and dryness became cooler temperatures and rain. The overcast skies were welcomed for chalking, while the precipitation was more problematic. But Friday was a perfect chalking day—partly cloudy, partly sunny, damp, but not wet, warm, but not hot.

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The change also inspired this piece.

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A street person wandered up to the piece when it was about 75% complete and began to mutter something to me, but it was so quiet that I had to lean in to hear her.

HER: "I feel so bad for him, he seems to be in so much pain."

TWT: "He's not in pain. He's filled with rage."

[pause]

HER: "What's his name?"

TWT: "His name? He's the god of rain."

HER: [with a bit of incredulity] "The god of rain?"

TWT: "Yes."

HER: "Okay. I'm going to pray for him."

And off she went.

She circled around the block a few times, passing by about every 7 to 10 minutes, but never commenting again. I assume she was praying for him.

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View more pictures of "God of Rain" HERE.

BLOOD RED

When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and there came a great earthquake; the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree drops its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.
—Revelation 6:12-13

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Clockwise from upper left: (1) filtered sun over the Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve; (2) filtered sun at sunset; (3) match-and-hand "dragon" and night setting on the camera; (4) blood-red half moon at twilight.

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The sky is filled with haze from the wildfires that are devouring Eastern Washington. The sun is hazy orange throughout the day, blood-orange at dawn and dusk. The half moon is blood red. The dragon hunts in the night.

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Sometimes the world just feels apocalyptic. Sometimes it isn't even a recognizable violence. Sometimes it is quiet and still. Sometimes it seethes.

Sometimes it is less "unveiling" and more small, near-silent voice.

FROST PARK: NIGHTFALL

"Nightfall" by Troy's Work Table. Frost Park Chalk Off. Friday 21 August 2015.

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After "Wildfire Shadowbox," I had some spare time, so I just started scribbling and sketching. It was charcoal first and then chalk, followed by more charcoal.

FROST PARK: WILDFLOWER SHADOWBOX

"Wildfire Shadowbox" by Troy's Work Table. Frost Park Chalk Off. Friday 21 August 2015.

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Eastern Washington burns. The wildfires continue to grow and devour more land. To stop the haunting I needed to put the nightmare down in chalk on concrete. So I did.

Not my best piece, but very cathartic.

THE METAL NOW

Right now, TWT is in a bit of a metal mood.

Meir (2013) by Kvelertak.

Blackjazz (2010) and One One One (2013) by Shining.

There Is No Land Beyond the Volga (2013) by Jucifer.

Hosannas from the Basements of Hell (2006) by Killing Joke.

Australasia (2003) by Pelican.

Legend II (1998) by Saviour Machine.

Once More 'Round the Sun (2014) by Mastodon.

Sunbather (2013) by Deafheaven.

SALMON SPIRIT II and III

"Salmon Spirit II" by Troy's Work Table. Milton Days. Saturday 15 August 2015.


"Salmon Spirit III" by Troy's Work Table. Carport concrete. Saturday 15 August 2015.

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TWT stopped by Milton Days since he heard there was a chalk art contest for all ages. The chalk box came out and there was an attempt to get another "Salmon Spirit" onto the pavement. The problem was that the canvas was asphalt, which was older and pitted. That meant that the chalk and charcoal and pastels bounced about and there was no good way to get detail on the ground. To compensate, there was an attempt to get more color on the ground than initially intended.

So, TWT decided to draw another "Salmon Spirit" upon arriving home. The newer and smoother concrete was a much more agreeable canvas than the asphalt. The chalk and charcoal and pastels glided where intended. The details were crisp. The colors were bold. The cooperation of the medium allowed for the salmon spirit to finally swim as it intended. This improved salmon spirit allowed the chalk muse to let this picture go and stopped haunting TWT.

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The difficulty of chalking the asphalt meant it took almost an hour to chalk a rough and unsatisfying piece. The ease of chalking the concrete meant it took just slightly less than fifteen minutes to chalk a piece that one could be happy with.

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You can view more comparison pictures of "Salmon Spirit II" and "Salmon Spirit III" HERE.

FROST PARK: THE WATCHER

Detail of "The Watcher" by Troy's Work Table. Chalk art for Friday 14 August 2015 at Frost Park.

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There's been a lot of talk (and pop-science articles) in the past few days about octopuses being aliens. It's about difference from who we are as humans/homo sapiens—tasting with skin and suckers, the largest eye of any invertebrate, a nervous system that is essentially a neural network, independent nerve control of arms from the main brain, skin that can camouflage due to a complex network of chromatophores, the ability to spray ink, a body that can squeeze into/through any hole that it's beak can get into/through, et cetera.

They are not aliens, although they are watching. And waiting. The question is: for what?

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View more pictures of "The Watcher" HERE.