"THE NEXT COOL THING": AN INTERVIEW WITH FRANK WU

This article was originally published in The Mouthpiece, issue 6 of the official newsletter for Baycon, Sunday evening May 29, 2005.  The interview is uncredited, but it was written by Hilary Ayer after she interviewed me over breakfast at the con.

The story Jay Lake told about his his "story words" started involves you.  How do you remember it?  Do people really come up and say, "You're an artist, give me a sketch?"

It doesn't really happen that often. They do ask me for autographs! Sometimes when I'm signing autographs for the Lake Wu book [Greetings from Lake Wu], or the Giant Monster book [Daikaiju! Giant Monster Tales], I'll sign it and then draw a little monster or a little dragon.  It's fun, and it's a little more than they're expecting.  I like drawing in books because you're not supposed to do it.  I like doing what you're not supposed to do.  Life's too short.  Rules?  What are rules?  What are rules for?

An artist or writer is in a way a performer.  I force my writer friends to entertain me.  I make them drawings, they tell me stories.  It all works out.  That's how the story words started.  I was bored.  We were talking about mundane things.  I don't go to conventions to talk about mundane things.  Here were all these creative people around - it's dangerous when I get bored.  So I said, "Jay, tell me a story."

What materials have you used and have you changed over the course of your work?

I used to do a lot of oils.  Oils are icky and they smell bad.  So I used to do oils.  They smell bad and they are sticky and runny and, did I mention, they smell bad?  So now I'm doing lots of acrylics, lots of bumpy acrylics.  (Asked for an example) In the art show, my piece Cthulhu Senryu (a senryu is a linked haiku form).  It's a piece I did for a chapbook [by Nick Mamatas] that is just about to come out.  I used clay in it and melted glue.  Little globs all over the place.  Parts of it are cut out and raised up.  It's a low relief painting.  Right now I'm doing raised bumpy paintings.  I'm sure in 2 or 3 more paintings I'll be bored of that and move on.  I'm always looking for the next cool thing.

There's a monologue by Garrison Keillor where he talks about going down the river in your handmade [raft] further than you have ever gone, beyond that bend, just to see what's there.  That's the new cool thing.  Life is full of coolness.  It's just waiting to be discovered.

This is the famous question we always ask according to the convention theme.  This is the con you can't refuse.  What can you not refuse?

I could refuse to answer this question! No, it's hard to say no when people want art.  When a magazine or a game that's going to come out asks for art.  Most of the time I want to say yes, but sometimes I just have too many projects due, or too many other pieces of art I've promised.  It just breaks my heart to say no.  It's an opportunity for coolness I have to miss.  They'll probably never ask me again.  There's only one of me and so many opportunities for coolness.

You've had a lot of fun with the Godfather theme of this con. [see below]

Yes!  And I'll tell you something cool.  The program book cover is named "Stolen Car".  It's the same car, a 1935 Cord Auburn "[Boat] Tail," that I use on the badge art. 

"Stolen Car" (final version); earlier version published on Baycon program book.

Baycon 2005 badge art.

On the badge part of the windshield is shot out.  The guy in the passenger seat has a little 'X' for his eye - he's dead.  On the program book cover, the windshield is not shot out - so you know the program book cover is earlier in the story.  The badge art is kind of [a] drive-by shooting.  It's revenge for the guy's death.  They had to drive around with him in the passenger seat to find the shooter.

The version of the program book cover that's in the art show is a little different.  I thought it was done and I sent it out.  Then I found a little more [that needed to be done]. The version in the program book doesn't exist anymore.  It's been covered over.

-------------------- HERE ENDETH THE INTERVIEW --------------------

AND NOW SOME NOTES ON BAYCON...

Now, Hilary had mentioned that I was having a lot of fun with the theme of the con: "The Godfather / The convention you can't refuse."  I think what she meant was the story of the "Meet the Guests" festivities, which happened Friday night.  Sitting at the dais were Michael Siladi, con chair and "Don", and all of the GOHS - author Jay Lake, Toastmaster Chris Garcia, fan guests & costumers Andy Trembley and Kevin Roche, special guest Star Trek: Deep Space 9 actress Chase Masterson (who played Leeta, the Dabo girl), and me, plus the woman - Kitty Crowe - who's next year's con chair.

Chris introduced us all, and Jay told a storyword - a short extemporaneous story involving words tossed to him from the audience, in this case "aardvark" and "heartburn."  Then it was my turn.  I was wearing a gangster suit picked up on Hollywood Blvd. at last year's Loscon.  I said something like this:

"It amuses me that the badge ribbons say 'Family,' because to me, science fiction is my family.  In high school, other kids picked on me because I was too smart and too arty and I dressed funny.  Now I get to be Guest of Honor!  For the exact same behaviors.  How cool is that?  And if science fiction is my family, then Baycon is my immediate family.  I live near here, and Baycon was the first con I ever showed art at back when I was starting out my career in art, in 1998, and I've been here every year since then.  So I am very touched to be asked to be AGOH.  In return, we've done some special things this year.  Like the paper dolls [made of all the GOHs], and I lowered the prices on my all artwork, just for this con.  But I have to say some things."

At this point, I asked Michael to stand up.  And Michael, who has some mobility difficulties, hobbled out of his chair and stood quietly near my end of the dais.  "Now, Michael, my friend, my brother, in the family all is love.  And one of the ways we show our love for each other is little things.  It's the little things that show that we care.  Conversely, it's the little things that show that we don't."  At this point, I grabbed my humongous suitcase and tossed it with a dramatic thud onto the tabletop.  This luggage is usually filled with paintings, but at this point it was filled with .... guns.  Lots and lots of guns.  A Darth Grievous blaster, a couple Tommy guns, .45 pistols, pump-action shotguns, machine guns - all toys of course, with the orange tips.  I said, "Michael, my salad last night... wilty."  And I handed Jay a shotgun, cocked it, and had him pass it down the line.  "And the program book, for shame, on page 10, paragraph 6... there's a typo (there really is)," and handed Jay another weapon.  "My name on my name badge, the seven letters I use to present myself to the world... the letters were a little crooked.  Why do you insult me so?"  I asked for the other GOHs to chime in.  Jay shouted, "My sheets are too tight!" Chase chastised Michael, because she's been at the con for 6 hours already, and he hadn't yet let her use his luxurious bathtub.  Then we stood and blasted Michael with the guns.  A couple people in the audience - Stephen Nelson and Christine Doyle, among them - had also been given guns and fired them, too, just to make sure.  It was absolutely glorious.

Michael later said that this was the most fun Baycon he'd ever chaired or attended - and the whacking of the "Don" helped, I assume.  I can't take full credit, but a lot of people later noted that this was not only one of the biggest Baycons ever - with 2402 in attendance, far more than last year - but also the most fun Baycon in years, if not ever.  People in the hallways seemed really happy.  Part of this, of course, was because we as GOHs were all wacky, happy, positive, young, loud people.  And there were lots of extra things.  Kelly Buehler and Daniel Spector made purples fezzes for all the GOHs, and then the next day, people went home and got their own fezzes, and suddenly other people are asking, "What's up with all the fezzes?"  All these things made the convention a truly wonderful, wonderful experience.  Thank you all, and please come again!