I was admiring the box art for an old copy of Skinny Puppy’s “Too Dark Park” this morning, just examining for the umpteenth time all of the exquisite beasts, demons, and devils that a man named Jim Cummins, a.k.a. I, Braineater --https://www.facebook.com/jimcum -- created for the band almost twenty five years ago now.
And it’s a sizeable excerpt from the full painting, considering the packaging is one of those boxes back from the mid-nineties when jewel cases were enveloped in thin cardboard exactly their width, but about three times their height. Not quite as much artistic real estate as an album cover, but still huge by today’s limited digipak standards.
So, of course, I don’t have his art as my FB “cover” on here by accident. This abstract from a much larger work of art, the original for which I’ve never seen, captured my heart from the time I first laid eyes on it. Braineater was also responsible for the classic Puppy logo that’s overlaid across his artwork in ghostly white – the briar-patched, barbed, “gothic” version that appears on this, their finest work of sonic horror.
Anyway, thinking back on this moment I had this morning inspired me to try to get this letter I sent via FB message to him another way: by posting it as a comment under one of his few YouTube videos. Said video (and my letter-as-comment) can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktCgYhQnrgI
I just hope he reads it in good faith, and rests assured that I don’t have any idols or heroes I obsess over. I just think some of the artists whose work I hear and/or see are often misunderstood or underappreciated or both. And though I think Braineater is understood well enough (but perhaps he doesn’t think so; I really don’t know), I do think he’s highly underappreciated.
So here’s to you, Jim. This weekend, when I’m out, I’ll have a drink to you because your sinister creations of cosmic horror have made my life a little happier, a little more enjoyable.
Hence, this is simply a “thank you” from a stranger.
-- ∆☩Y§ ☨♆∀☥✠
CVRRENT SOVND: “Rash Reflection” by Skinny Puppy from “Too Dark Park”
