LOS
ANGELES TRIPTYCH
November 11, 2001
We were guided to find a movie script that, in our eyes,
defined Los Angeles. With these pieces of type, we were then
to make a triptych from the letterforms. Poster Size. (58"x36"/3)
I jumped on the Big Lebowski.
The Coen Brother's script contained enough bizarre letterforms
to keep me occupied, but I ended up distorting the type to
the point where it was illegible anyway. The movie itself
is in actuality a huge mess. But what a glorious and vibrant
mess it is! I attempt to reflect this rich character with
a heavy narrative of movement for your eyes to follow across
all three pieces. Eventually, when this piece was shown in
a gallery show, I printed all three as a continuous, single
poster. It is profane, extreme, and without inhibitions. A
pure expression of the film.
The bowling references in the design are apparent, but upon
further search you can make out a few of my own subtle additions
and commentary throughout.
This file was created before Illustrator 10 was available,
but I ended up acquiring it weekend after I finished the poster.
The text-warping functions of Ill10 almost seemed like cheating,
especially after the techniques I had developed for myself
in order to warp some of the text in this piece.
This project brings back memories.
There's an interesting story behind the completion of this
project. I finished my layouts at nearly 5:30am, and the sun
was beginning to come through my window. I decided to skate
to Drake Stadium, or the top of Janss Steps to watch the sun
rise to celebrate the pieces conclusion. After all, class
was at 9am. I scrambled to rubber cement the pieces of 8.5"x11"'s
from my trusty HP printer into three 11x17 sheets for presentation,
and hung them to dry by my window so I wouldn't fumigate my
roommate. I washed my face, turned off everything electronic,
threw on a long sleeve shirt, and grabbed my board. I hadn't
eaten in about 9 hours.
The sun was just beginning to rise, and I flew down the parking
area below the Rieber dorms, which connects to DeNeve drive,
a main street, but there was no traffic at this time in the
morning, so I floated down the asphalt without worry. I think
the combination of my slowed reflexes, with the fact that
my body was nauseated from sitting in front of a computer
screen for 12 hours had an effect on my balance, and I felt
queasy as I intelligently decided to go down Bruin Walk. At
the bottom, I started to speed wobble, and hit the infamous
grating which pummeled me into the ground, hitting the side
of my head.
The next thing I can remember are my eyes opening up to blue
sky, and students walking to class. A girl asked if I was
ok; I said fine. Looking back, I guess it must have looking
like I was sleeping in the sun. I sat up and found my board,
not realizing what I was doing, and ran back to my room and
fell into my bed. I woke up to my alarm 30 minutes later,
with blood soaked sheets from my wounds on my knees and arms.
I was shaking. My roommate had already left, and I began to
clean myself up before I had to get to class.
The entire day seems like a drug trip. The combination of
trauma and 30 minutes of sleep (nap) takes a destructive toll
on your consciousness. I can barely remember critiquing my
classmates projects. After class, I slept for 18 hours, and
woke up entirely sore in the middle of the night with my sleep
schedule completely messed over.
This project brings back memories.
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