Yuku free message boards

Since it was raised and Matt did ask I'll say a few brief words about the cover art. Bear in mind that I am not the artist, so this is not exactly the authorial intent being expressed, but as the son of the artist I can shed some insight onto his approach and general intentions regarding the piece.

For those who don't know, Brian Jordan's background is in fine arts, and his works are usually of a more abstracted design than strictly illustrative in nature. He has worked in graphic design and illustration as well, but in both of these capacities his approach has always been that of a fine art style artist, thus bringing his comic book illustration in works like Dogs and cover illustrations for series' like Beyond an ideology that might not always be encountered in such an arena.

The majority of BTR cd covers have previously been constructed based on the notion of illustrating a specific scene from the story in question. With his artwork my father wanted to provide an alternate approach, constructing an image that depicted the story from a thematic line rather than only a strictly literal one. His intent was to construct something that had strong narrative ties but forced the viewer to think about the image, to draw various conclusions and interpretations on their own without specifically being told exactly what it was they were looking at. In other words, an image to encourage thought and discussion. Something which I may scupper slightly by adding the following insights, but I guess we'll see...

The discussions I had with him regarding the script prior to his creation of the image resulted in the following things being discussed. One was the idea of composing an image that suffused the entirety of the story into one visual motif. Not an illustration of a scene, but a fused confusion of every single event that takes place over the hour long play into one image. The narrative approach and connection that he hatched was linked to the conclusion of part one of the piece and hinged upon the question of Jane Doe's missing memories. What is memory and how does it work? How can a person have memories that aren't their own, and if they do then how do they remember them? Memories are usually recalled in a narrative set, a story order - or are they? Our minds can jump inexplicably from one thought to another in such a way that makes sense to us, because we know the context, but which to another viewing our thoughts would seem bizarre, surreal, unintelligible. So then, how would the memories of Jane Doe look? Memories of alien creatures, other worlds, memories of military interrogators and a sense of being observed. Not just physically, but mentally. Having your thoughts observed by the distorted eye of an alien being...

Apart from this though the image is meant to convey these narrative themes of disconnection, lost identity and paranoia in a work that complements rather than strictly illustrating the audio piece. This is in the same way that Munch's The Scream might make a perfect cover illustration for, say, an audio adaptation of Orwell's 1984. Paranoia, fear, loss of identity and the primal scream that embodies all of these things.

As well as this I know that Brian wanted to represent the different aspects of the play in visual motifs. The main eye to embody the aliens of the piece. A watching face to the right of the image to convey the paranoid military. The work as a whole encapsulating the confused inner mind of Jane Doe. And at the centre of it all a creature that could be as innocuous as an earth insect or as deadly as an alien monster, a visual representation of all that the alien factor says, that we could be looking at aliens or misrepresenting humans, that we create the Other from what we percieve around us, but that that Otherness comes from our interpretation of it rather than what it actually is. Is Jane Doe an alien? Or is she a disturbed human being? The insect of uncertainty sits at the centre of her mind, a symbol waiting to be decoded, an image waiting to be given meaning, a sign waiting to be put into context...

Well, those are the points that I recall my father mentioning to me in his initial designing of the artwork for the cover. He knew that it would be considered 'different' if not controversial in terms of approach since it was not following the standard tack of illustrating a specific scene, but his response to the Alien Factor story was to respond strongly to the deeper thematic questions and ideas that it raised, things that would not have come across as strongly in, say, an illustration of a girl standing on the bridge of an alien vessel. Not that such an image would not be equally powerful, but it is not the type of artwork he most enjoys making. Thus a more lateral approach to the problem of visually encapsulating an audio drama.

I think, however, he would be most happy to see a variety of differing interpretations being suggested by each individual who buys the cd. One of his (and mine as well) favourite elements of the Alien Factor was the sense of amiguity about certain aspects and the questions raised about memory, identity and our perception of the world. If, as postmodern theory argues, each reader interprets a work differently based on the personal symbols of their own mental perception, then it is possible to argue that every character within the Alien Factor would decode the events that befall them differently, would 'read' the reality of their own world based on their own preconceptions. Who is to say that the image does not accurately translate Jane's own perception of it all, days worth of memory crystalized into one moment, pulled from the confused depths of her consciousness by a curious alien being? Who is to say that the surreal unreality isn't more real than reality itself? All that can be certain is that there are aliens among us. Or are there? Is it real or paranoia? And how can we help but be paranoid when there are so many eyes - eyes, watching. Observing. Assessing. And translating reality through their own perception. Multiple perceptions, multiple interpretations, multiple memories, endless possibilities.

If the image is striking and encourages people to buy the cd then it has served one purpose. If it then encourages thought in interpreting its visual motifs once the audio play at the heart of the work has been digested, then it has served another. In the end, the viewer will make up their own mind, so long as they take the time to consider the visual and ponder the endless possibilities contained therein, not to mention the implications inherant within the audio play that inspired the work in the first place.

All the best
Darran