Dies Irae

Cody VAnWinkle

Interview by L. Valena

Can you describe what you responded to?

I was sent a photo of what appeared to be a woman with very red lipstick, covered in feathers. It appeared to be in a very dark environment.

What was your first reaction to that?

My first reaction was, "I guess that a chicken exploded," but not like a real chicken. Like a muppet chicken. Like the kind that Gonzo would date.

That's actually exactly the image that I had in my head when you said that.

Yeah! There's no blood, just feathers, and she's been blasted with those feathers. There appeared to be a crescent moon in the background. But when I first looked at the piece, what my eye saw in that moon, was a big ominous googly eye. Because it had sort of that shape about it. And then I was trying to understand what was happening in the whole piece, rather than looking at its parts. That's when I realized that the feathers aren't like flying at her from one direction- it's like raining feathers where she is.

Feathers are falling from the sky, and there's this ominous, possibly judgemental googly eye of god in the sky. So I got thinking about what's the premise- what would make it possible for this to be happening. And then I realized that oh! God is a puppet. It would have to be under those circumstances that it would snow feathers.

If God is a puppet, what would that look like? I'm really interested in puppets anyway, I always have been. And so I thought of different ways I could depict that. My first idea was to have the people be like from an old oil painting of people who are being judged, or ruing the day, or suffering the wrath of God. But I couldn't really find the kind of image I was looking for, and I didn't want to draw my own. So then I was thinking more like people panicking- making it look more like a B movie. That's what lead me to find the images I found, these stock photos that I cobbled together. And I was going to draw a sock puppet in the sky. I used to draw sock puppets all the time- it's something I used to do for fun. But I couldn't quite get the right effect, and I wasn't happy with how I made the open mouth look.

And then I remembered that many years ago I made a little cast of sock puppets, and I still have them in a bag in my closet. So I went into my closet, took them down, tried them all on, and got to decide which one should represent God. I chose the one I chose and did a little photoshoot. Have you ever tried to take a picture of your hand in that position, with your other hand? It is not easy.

Yeah, it is not easy at all.

To contort your hand in such a way and have it be far enough from your other hand, but with your face still able to see what the frame is. It sounds easy to take a picture of your hand, but it was not easy. But I managed to do it, and that's what I ended up using. It was going to have an illustration with found photos, but it ended up being a photo collage. My intention was to call it 'Judgement Day' or 'Wrath of God', but right after I submitted the final piece I stumbled upon something about the Dies Irae, do you know about this? That piece of music that's in like every scary movie. I watched a little Vox video about the history of the Dies Irae, and how it came from a 13th-century Gregorian chant, and it's now in all these Hollywood movies and tv shows. It's a signifier that something sad or deathy is happening. So I've decided that the title of this piece should be 'Dies Irae'.

Is this the Whilhelm scream of horror soundtracks?

Kind of. Remember the opening music of The Shining? Very ominous. That's it- it's taken directly from this Gregorian chant. It's been in Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, it's all over Nightmare Before Christmas. It was originally a funeral thing, but now composers use it to mean something sad, deathy, or sinister. I want the piece to have an overall vibe of judgment day. I think that making the title in Latin will make it more ominous and epic.

I have some questions. Why did you choose to have the people who are fearing judgment day be children?

My original goal wasn't to use a picture of children- I was looking for photos of people freaking out or looking Judged with a capital J. But when I saw the picture of kids, I thought it seemed like a very appropriate counterpoint to the puppet God. If God is a silly sock puppet, and people are being judged by it, then kids are probably a good audience for that.

That's the usual audience for sock puppets!

Yeah! I was aiming for a sci-fi B movie kind of feel, but now I think it's a little more like early television. They are the kids in the studio audience. "Hey kids, guess what time it is? It's Judgement Day!"

If God is a puppet, who or what is operating the puppet? Whose hand is in the puppet? Or is the sock puppet the metaphor that is the thing that allows us to interact with this being?

That's the big question, right? What hand is operating God? There are a lot of ways you can interpret that question. Officially, there isn't a hand in the puppet, because it's God- it should be its own hand. That's what these kids believe. That's what the followers of this God have been lead to believe. Kind of a Great and Powerful Oz, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain kind of a thing. But we can see that there is a hand in there. Is it mine? Well, literally yes, but I prefer to think it's not. Is it the hand of mankind, who has created the God that's judging them? Well, most scholars would say yes.

Would you like to talk about what the identity of this particular puppet was before it played the part of God?

You've seen this puppet before- it was in my puppet show at Charlotte's talent show birthday party a hundred years ago.

That was probably the best birthday party of all time.

My original idea, a hundred years ago, was to make a YouTube sketch comedy show starring sock puppets.

It's still a great idea.

Thank you- it's not out of the question. I was writing little bits that I could have them do, and there was a character that was designed to be the Kermit- like the host/put-upon manager. The straight man who's in charge for some reason, and not enjoying it. And then everybody else just got to be these wacky weirdos. I don't remember what her name was, the puppet who has now been repurposed to play God. But when I auditioned them, I tried them all on, and tried to make them look godly. She was the one who worked the best. She wasn't too silly, or too specific. Just a nice general weird puppet. I did consider going with googly eyes, to reflect the googly eye of god in the prompt. But I didn't have any that were that big, and the puppets already had button eyes, which I think works better. It's creepier.

One thing that may not be evident: when you look at this piece, I would like you to think about UFO music- like with a theremin, from the 1950s or maybe some really epic classical music that makes you think of the judgment of God. I feel like there should be some really juicy background music that will have to be in the mind of the beholder.

Do you have any new advice for others participating in this project?

Don't forget that you may have some supplies somewhere in your closet that can be repurposed! You may have something you've already created that can get mixed into something to make a new piece.

Call Number: M30VA | M31VA.vaDi

Cody VanWinkle spent five years illustrating children's books at the Greater Boston Bigfoot Research Institute. In 2017, he was published in And Lester Swam On, written by 21 rambunctious second graders. Someday, he would like to combine his passions for making ice cream and knitting.