Beksinski

'It misses the point to ask me what scenes in my paintings 'mean'. Simply, I do not know, myself. Moreover, I am not at all interested in knowing.'

I discovered Beksinski only though a post by JP over at CriminalEnglish. He was given an image to weave a 15 minute story out of it. I really liked the painting and did a search to find more. And then I found out that he'd been murdered just a few days back.

So I have collected all these blog entries as a sort of tribute: stories inspired by this painting. It's very interesting to see how diverse the responses are.

Here's mine:

I pause for a while, just outside the city. The last one was boringly easy, I need a more challenging one the next time. Sometimes, I wish I could choose the order of names, but the rules are not meant to be broken, even bent. Let's see, now. Who's the next one. The scroll sits comfortably on my lap. I have been at this job for too long, I feel at one with the scroll, my mechanical steed and even the looming storm with its attendant dust devils and whirlwinds cannot distract me form the one moment of peace I can salvage from the tasks. The moment the next name is revealed, everything blurs into motion. But now, being static is not so bad. Oh don't get me wrong, I love the chase, I love the fleeting forays into the fractured landscape, and the satisfying thunk of getting close to the end of the hunt, but moments like these are also precious. A fragment of stillness makes all the difference. Already the name is revealing itself. Already I must put the past behind, and chart out the quickest way to the next target. Already the stillness has finished winding itself tight as the spiral of time itself, and the ride will release me again.

JP's stone rider
Finny's survivor
Jugular Bean's Prophylaxis
Jonah Hex's Microwaved scene

Some more here at this thread at Chronicles Network