MUSIC & THE BEAST

Comics Art! Engines roaring, horns honking, metal scraping, people talking, sirens blasting, radios, announcements, collisions...the city is a sonic battlefield. All around the noises mix together telepathically connected to our routines, thoughts and desires. The hustle bustle of the daily rat race, confrontations with each other, with money, with stress all amalgamate forming a monstrous entity. The City is a beast closing in from every direction. Cold faces, concrete landscapes, preoccupations with other places, the collective madness can be overwhelming and then suddenly some hypnotically soothing sound breaks through. A solitary musician stands on the corner with a horn and time stops, the crushing City Monster is held at back by the melodies making life that much more beautiful even if it is only for a moment...

This drawing depicts a musician playing the saxophone in the middle of a busy street. While the crowds move all around him we can see the giant demonic teeth and eyes coming out of the buildings. This massive creature is the City Monster, a terrifying personification of all the noise, stress and aggressions produced in the downtown core. Sonic laser beams fly from the performers instrument opening a weird little portal in the madness as he uses the music to keep the madness away.

I made this artwork while I was working as a full time graffiti street art performer and was inspired by the power music had on the city. I would always play loud music when I did my live painting performances and it made a huge difference to the event. Like wise I got to see many exciting musicians come and go on the street. Every time a talented player showed up the area would come alive, people would start smiling or dancing and interacting with each other in a unique and positive manner unseen on a quiet street. As a result I included a number of musicians into my cast of heroes alongside of the super-humans and samurai stood saxophonists and singers.

RELATED PAGES

SURREALISM ART Gallery of detailed ink drawings about the City of Gears Heroes & Villains

GRAFFITI STYLES! Live mural painting performances of the City of Gears artworks

COMICS ART Complete index of ink drawings, murals and street art 2001-present