Post-Apocalyptic: Carson G: Zombie Killer

The installed piece @ Gallery Project in Ann Arbor.

So many things come to mind when we think about the end of the world, I hardly know where to begin. As I type this, REM’s “It’s the End of the World (as we know it)” is buzzing about in my head and images of burnt out buildings, smoking rubble, and the undead flash before my eyes. Growing up, I was haunted by the monthly air raid siren’s test. I would shudder in fear as it wailed each month, and I couldn’t wait until it was over. Back then, the end of the world would have been a nuclear attack or some other invasion from a not so friendly country to the east or west. Now, a spilled test tube or our food chain can cause our demise.

The bible was also a source for juvenile angst, as I came across an illustrated tract showing just what would happen via the book of Revelations. The portable guillotines to sever the heads of the non-Beast adopting Christians still hangs in my memory.   Then there is my love of horror movies and my way too early viewing of “Night of the Living Dead.” Our 7^th grade student council decided that we should have a movie instead of a Valentine’s Dance one year; they picked “Night of the Living Dead.” I don’t remember anyone on the faculty being fired for this, but I am certain that after all the screaming, the fake retching, and howls of disgust over the zombie’s feeding on the victim’s guts, parental phone calls were made in protest. For months, I imagined what it would be like to be holed up in a basement for the rest of my life, afraid to go out because of the undead and their proclivity for human chittlins.

Regardless of how it plays out, it won’t be fun.

The photo was taken at Carson’s 6^th birthday. We bought him the requisite art supplies (as is my want as an art teacher) but I sweetened the package with some rubber zombies bought at the local toy store. Carson was in love with his new gun, and was shooting everyone in its site. I was fiddling around with the zombies, trying to get them to look like they were actually at the party, and I noticed Carson pointing the gun at me. I asked him to wait and brought two of the undead up into the camera’s focus. He aimed, with great precision, and I snapped the pic just as the light from the gun went off. Not sure where the line of light came from, but I think it adds to the picture.

If I do end up sequestered in a basement somewhere, I hope I have Carson nearby with his amazing aim.