| Unless
you've been living under a rock since the Y2K Bug, you'll immediately
recognize the title. "All Your Base," if you're not aware,
is taken from a Toaplan shoot-em-up called Zero Wing. It
originally appeared as a video arcade before winding up on the Sega
Genesis in 1991. It is here that you'll find the famous opening
sequence; every sentence a horribly mangled English. Memorable lines
include "War was beginning," "Take off every zig
for great justice," You are on the way to destruction,"
"There is no chance to survive make your time," and, of
course, "How are you gentlemen? All your base are belong to
us."
Zero
Wing came from Japan, and the person assigned to translate
the text had only taken a couple English classes in night school.
Little did he know he would be responsible for the first great fad
of the Internet Age.
Anyway,
on to the painting. This is one of my favorite Watercolor on Canvas
paintings (I need a better name!); brilliant color, great sense
of motion, a lot of variety around the canvas for you to look at.
This is one of the prime examples of what you can achieve with this
style.
I
never took a picture of the b-side, which is unfortunate, because
it's one of my best. It was a cartoon collage of George W. Bush's
2000 campaign, sprinkled with the infamous dialog from Zero
Wing. Somehow, when W. says "All your base...," I'm
not at all surprised. Events on the b-side include the GOP plan
to drill for oil anywhere there's wildlife; crippling tax cuts for
the rich; the crazy "Star Wars" missle defense plan; and
the "riots" in south Florida during the 2000 election
recount, which were in reality staged by the Republican Party (it
was reportedly run from Tom Delay's office). I made this in 2001,
and not a damn thing's changed.
This
painting is no longer available. It was donated to the Rogue Buddha
Gallery (in Minneapolis) for a charity auction. The owner of the
gallery is very dedicated to the Twin Cities' art scene, and he
had helped me with contacts and shows on occasion. |
