The B Book.
After several years as art director for Bloomingdale's and Macy's, Brian Randall quit, sickened by the materialism and greed of the New York fashion industry. His frustrations fuel The B Book, a postmodern fairy tale set in capitalist America that tells the story of the spoiled young Miss Bee and her Donald Trumpish rise to power and fortune.
Although the good-versus-evil theme makes for a classic fairy tale, the slick and often jarring images reflect a different tradition: that of advertising. The project began as an installation for storefront windows along Wall Street. To seduce the passersby and "suck them in," Randall turned to the imagery of advertising, "the language of the people."
His pop-art style is part Wizard of Oz, part opera set, part drag-queen ball. All of the 46 color plates are created in a pre-computer cut-and-paste style and combine photographs, illustrations, and life-size and miniature sets - constructed of Q-tips, cellophane, costume jewelry, and plastic trinkets.
To create the Factory image (at right), The B Book team constructed an 8-by-12-foot set using wheels, thumb tacks, silver spray-painted Matchbox cars, silver glitter, and a cutout photograph of Miss Bee. The result is a metallic fantasy of production and power, a Nutcracker-like dream of industry controlled by a glittery techno-princess.
The happy simplicity of the early pictures gives way to darker, more twisted and layered images as Miss Bee is consumed by power and greed. Sometimes playful, sometimes disturbing, these images pack a punch. This is pop art motivated by political angst and social idealism.
The B Book, by Brian Randall, US$22.95. Warner Books.
