Title: Showbiz, Baby!
Medium: Graphite, conte, ink, digital collage, personal writing
Dimensions: 5.5 in. W x 7 in. H, 12 pages
Date: 2022
Personal essay reflecting on romanticization of military conflict and cultural memory within popular cinema.
Studio production and printing of this book is the result of a 2022 Creative Support for Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
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Alt Text: Cover. Painted black border with small, crudely drawn white stars on corners, surrounding white paper. Large area of ink and scribbled black graphite is present in center of page, with thick strokes of white paint reading "Showbiz, Baby!" Smaller, written type reads "Insider Tips by Jacob Yeates." All interior pages also in black, white, and grey with these materials.
Alt Text: Left page, cover interior, no image. Right page, ink wash and ragged line drawing of Putin from shoulders up, looking neutral, as if at press conference. Near bottom of page is a news ticker, reading in all caps "-EAD CHILDREN." Three small panels of handwritten text are on right side of page, parallel to Putin.
Alt Text: Left page, repeated drawing of Putin from prior page, now wearing sunglasses with star-shaped lenses. Two panels of text are parallel to Putin. Right page, roughly split horizontally. Upper half is grid of four ink drawings of crying soldiers from films We Were Soldiers, Black Hawk Down, American Sniper, and Munich. Bottom half is panel of text.
Alt Text: Image spread across both pages. Upper third of spread, one on left page, one on right, are two panels of handwritten text. Below is a drawing of a modern tank traveling over a cratered landscape collaged with military maps. Rather than treads, the bottom of the tank shows dozens of naked human feet in motion. An enshrouded body lies in the extreme foreground.
Alt Text: Image spread across both pages. On left side of left page is text box. Spread is drawn scene of George W. Bush seated in his painting studio, arms crossed, smiling kindly. On right page, partially visible canvas shows a smiling, but disturbingly distorted portrait of a soldier, wearing star-shaped sunglasses. These same sunglasses hang from Bush's shirt collar.
Alt Text: Ending spread. Left page repeats image of Putin wearing star-shaped sunglasses, blacks and whites now inverted. Right page is interior of back cover, with no image; Minnesota State Arts Board acknowledgment text present in center.