I SEE U sign

November 15, 2012

I have long been inspired by the haunting eyes on the roadside sign from the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, The Great Gatsby. The eyes were on a defunct billboard in the Valley of the Ashes. I had to read The Great Gatsby in school and the eyes were my strongest memory. They were the part that I always reflected upon.

I had watched the 1974 film version of the novel recently. More recently, I was at a concert in Little Five Points at The Star Bar. I was listneing to my friends band, Spirits and the Melchizedek Children. I starting thinking of – THE EYES – and then I thought of a location. There has long been a fallen down sign and two abandoned wooden posts along Moreland Avenue on the south side of Atlanta. This is an industrial and trucking area– Not too different from where the sign in the novel stood. I knew this was the right place for my concept to become real. I came home from the show and started making sketches.

I installed the sign today. I was really happy with the final product. When I drove away I looked back at it and knew that it too could make people think and haunt their souls a little with its lonesome roadside eyes.

I put this little disclaimer at the bottom in case anyone wondered. “This is NOT Free Art. This is for all to see and enjoy and discuss. K. Brooks. BlackCatTips. November 2012.”

See more photos here.

– kyle