LOSTblog: Damon, Carlton and a Polar Bear: Water-cooler Moments (Frames 11-15)

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Damon, Carlton and a Polar Bear: Water-cooler Moments (Frames 11-15)

A collaboration between Ronie Midfew Arts and Damon, Carlton and a Polar Bear made it possible for sixteen world renown designers and artists to create original, signed and numbered screen prints representing LOST water-cooler moments. Less than 200 of each were made available to the public for purchase and all have been sold. However, over at DCaaPB there is one last remaining “?” in a frame. This is the mysterious Frame 16. You will have to be clever to find the key which unlocks it’s secret. Click on the HUB image to see previous frame reveal clues. If you are still confused, check out The Lost ARGs blog for a closer look this fan-appreciation ARG. Here are Frames 11-15 and the water-cooler moments they represent.

“Waaaaaaaaaalt! is the first (Pilot 1) and last (Exodus, Part 2) word spoken in Season 1. It’s utterance innumerable in-between. This is a father and son that just can’t stay together; separated at birth, by marriage and adoption, after a plane crash, on the beach and at the caves. But the ultimate separation of Michael and Walt is at the hands of the Others - a high-seas kidnapping. Frame 11, Drew Millward for Walt’s Kidnapping, depicts that moment with energetic strokes of green, blue and gold. Mr. Friendly’s bearded visage arises smoke-like while concentric circles radiate outward from the burning raft. Walt sits in the palm of his right hand. “Waaaaaaaaaaaalt!”

Titled “And that’s why my hand was shaking. Because this is not a man you go and see, this is a man who summons you.” by Daniel Danger and retitled Jacob’s Cabin by DCaaPB, this print is the 12th in a series of 16. Mr. Danger’s tiny empire is not so tiny. The choice of Mr. Danger as artist for the subject of Jacob’s cabin generated an abundance of exclamation marks on comments on blog sites and thread boards. Printed on black paper using shades of ‘dark’ with electric-green detailing and final overlay of glossy rain, this print put’s the “Oh!” in ominous. The cabin makes it’s first appearance in “The Man Behind the Curtain.” Who is in the cabin makes it a water-cooler moment.

Nate Duval’s “The Barracks” was revealed in Frame 13. A rustic yellow cabin stands at the foot of a densely forested mountain - laundry hangs on the line, waiting. Billowing smoke rises into the sky telling us the day is September 22, 2004. Oceanic Flight 815 has crashed, and Juliet’s book club, sans Mr. Linus, will have to reschedule it’s discussion of Carrie to another day. The opening scene in “A Tale of Two Cities” challenged our concept of ‘where’ on the island. But I’ll steal a line from Claire and Michael which expressed my confusion as LOST cut to commercial, “Who are you people?”

What’s in a name? Subtitled “my name is henry gale, my name is benjamin linus, my name is . . . ” Todd Slater’s Ben Linus for Frame 14 is a personal portrait of the leader of the Others. He holds bunny No. 8 in the crook of his arm. Slater’s harsh lines in silver paint illuminate Ben’s right side, face and arm, while the left remains in darkness. He uses concentric lines to represent a spinning starry night. Benjamin Linus enters the story of LOST as Henry Gale, balloonists in Season 2, One of Them. LOST fans waffled - good or bad?, Other or not? - right up to the bowl of cereal “. . . got any milk?” line delivered at the end of The Whole Truth. But this water-cooler moment may be from Season 3, Every Man for Himself, where Ben reveals to Sawyer that no escape is possible from Hydra Island, and a life of loneliness can make you sick. A lie and a truth.

And finally, Frame 15. The last in the ‘regular’ series of prints. On this tropical island paradise of guavas, wild boar, and Smoke Monsters, Pilot 1, Part 2 gave us one more “Oh, My!” water-cooler moment. Charging out of the tall grass towards our intrepid transmission hunters is a polar bear. Jay Ryan for The Polar Bear has us scratching our collective heads. Has this polar bear taken a liking to Dharma Beer? Or has an unfortunate party-goers stumbled upon a hungry bear? As of this article, I have not seen The Polar Bear first hand so my interpretation may need modification. But, nonetheless, the iconic polar bear inspired Mr. Scheer’s velvet painting and has been chosen mascot for Lost University. He holds a special place in the story that is LOST.