For this image of Walking in Memphis I have used a spacer boards so I can display the two sections together. Right now the length of the artwork is eighty-four inches. My music for Walking in Memphis is all in place and portrays the ending of the song, where it repeats the beginning. Here are those words:
“Put on my blue suede shoes And I boarded the plane. Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues In the middle of the pouring rain
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues In the middle of the pouring rain.”
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues In the middle of the pouring rain.”
-Walking in Memphis Marc Cohen
The video for Walking in Memphis is in black and white. I painted many of the shafts black and white with shades of gray in between. I also picked a color to represent the Blues and painted the remaining shafts blue. I arranged all the shafts into the two sections of the artwork. To show my appreciation for Jackson Pollock, I clamped all the shafts from each section together. Then I chose four different colors of fluid acrylics and pour each color into syringe like small plastic bottles. I then squeezed out the fluid paint across all the wood pieces. I chose the colors red, blue, yellow, and green for they appear in many of the Beale street neon signs. Here is an example:
My version of Pollock’s style of drip painting when first applied mimics his style: swirls of paint. My twist is that I then separate all the shafts. This spreads the flow creating more movement and drama.
Finally, I chose for the notes a mixed blue to resemble the color of the only pair of Elvis’s blue suede shoes:
In the four corners I have eight by ten canvases that I have covered with digital canvas night images of today’s Beale Street. Later on I will add some much older black and white images of Beale Street, and other interesting items Marc Cohen sings about.
Scott Von Holzen
art IN music 