> # Re: formulative years

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> Posted by Jesse on December 02, 2014 at 13:52:34

> In Reply to: formulative years posted by wetchas on December 02, 2014 at 10:36:16:

> My mom tells me I fell in her friend's swimming pool when I was two and sank like a stone; she had to dive in and get me out. I have no memory of this, but it's probably what set me down the path towards loving the water, and specifically my fascination with being under it.

> As to what hooked me on my particular interest, the concept of people and activities being underwater that wouldn't normally be there, I can point to two very specific examples. The first was those old Starburst commercials from the early '90s, where someone would pop a candy in their mouth and then the room would suddenly fill up with water - there'd be a hyper fast cut sequence in the middle of each ad showing them swimming around underwater with their clothes on, looking as thrilled about it as humanly possible. It provoked my young imagination for sure, but each underwater shot was only a few frames long. I was eager to see more.

> And that's where my second biggest influence came into play - a music video from a 1995 episode of the Disney Channel's "The New Mickey Mouse Club", in which a group of three teenage Mouseketeers performed a cover of the song "Backwater" by the Meat Puppets. The entire second half of the video was shot underwater, in a sunken set made to look like a bedroom, with the kids (still fully clothed, of course) going about their typical teenage business as if nothing was unusual, as if they weren't blowing bubbles or trying not to float off the floor. Not only did they not mind that their room was underwater, but they actually seemed to prefer it that way!

> Both times, I was stunned; I'd never seen anything like this stuff before. And both those commercials and that video continue to be a huge influence on my underwater art. There's something uniquely fascinating about putting everyday life underwater - everything changes down there, and the creative possibilities are pretty much endless.

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> - Re: formulative years wetchas 14:26:45 12/02/2014 (0)

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