Idiot Box

Two paintings will be going out to Gallery 1988 very soon. I'm sitting on this one for the moment to see if anything else needs resolved that I'm not seeing right now. It's gouache on heavy watercolor paper. There are a few in-jokes. I remember when the X-Files started getting more absurd and humorous at times. One o the surprising episodes was the alien  in the Hawaiian shirt that would talk to Mulder when he would be in a somewhat dreamlike state. Up to that point the aliens had been treated in a realistic manner that was a threat or an unknown thing we should be serious about for many seasons. Then one time this alien appears and I think he's introduced as "Bob" or something. I think it was a reference to an abductee's tale that was making the rounds of the UFO junkies in the mid 90's. I don't know if "UFO Junkie" is the official name of that group. Maybe UFO enthusiasts? Regardless, it made an impression on me when I saw it.

The title of this image is, "It's Yours"... For the moment. I sort of want to reference the idea that most alien abduction stories tend to involve magically winding up on a cold metal table (on a space ship?), aliens with scary medical looking tools bending over them, telekinesis calming their minds as they are afraid over the fact they are paralyzed and confused. Later, they realize they are missing time and the pieces they remember are scary and involved some unwanted surgery or pregnancy.

I was playing on the idea that to them, humans all look the same. Much like we would probably say the same about the aliens. So of course when they operate on humans they might mix up a head or two when putting them back on the body.