CLOSE ENCOUNTERS A Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree Master of Fine Arts in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Philip Edmond Brou III ***** The Ohio State University 2004 Master's Examination Committee: Pamela Fraser, Advisor Advisor Steven Pentak Department of Art Robert Arnold ABSTRACT The following thesis is a technical manual that runs parallel to several of my projects. I will discuss my relationships to the Grumman TBM-Avenger torpedo bomber, “The Bermuda Triangle,” and Leon Battista Alberti. Also, I will present evidence that led me to reconstruct the hospital where I was born, to find and reconstruct Steven Spielberg’s childhood home, and to commission two forensic artists to draw my portrait. The writing answers questions in hopes of generating more, in favor of becoming intertwined and dislocated, in hopes of becoming lost. ii Dedicated to Jennifer Ill ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the members of my thesis committee: Steven Pentak, Robert Arnold, and my advisor Pamela Fraser for their support and for being an incredible group of people. I am indebted to Cathy Ellis, Marthe Grohman, Shiela Willman, and Donna Boggs. Without their daily assistance and attention, I am convinced the entire world would come to a screeching halt. I would also like to thank everyone who has made my brain a much more interesting thing to work with: Laura Lisbon, Malcolm Cochran, Elizabeth King, Don Crow, Alan Crockett, Mark Harris, and Carmel Buckley. Mom, thank you for letting me keep everything I picked up during our beach walks when I was a kid. Dad, thank you for teaching me how to make a kite out of notebook paper and broom-straws. Thanks to the rest of my family, both genetic and non-genetic, for their support. And finally, I would like to thank Jennifer, Beatrice, and Bosley who have taught me that wealth has absolutely nothing to do with money. IV VITA August 29, 1977 .................................... Bom: Virginia, U.S.A. 1999 .................................................. B.F.A. in Painting and Printmaking, Virginia Commonwealth University 2002-2004 ........................................... Presidential Fellow and Graduate Teaching and Research Associate, The Ohio State University FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Art v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract. ............................................................................................... ii Dedication ............................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ................................................................................. .iv Vita ...................................................................................................... v List of Figures ....................................................................................... vii Chapters: 1. The Avenger .................................................................................. 1 2. The Triangle .................................................................................. 8 3. The Hospital Where I was Born .......................................................... 10 4. Steven Spielberg's Childhood Home .................................................... 17 5. Forensic Art ................................................................................. 26 6. The Vanishing Point. ...................................................................... 30 Bibliography ......................................................................................... 33 VI LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1.1 A picture of my Grandfather before World War II ................................... .4 1.2 A picture of my Grandfather after World War II ....................................... .4 1.3 The Grumman TBM-A venger Torpedo Bomber. ..................................... .4 1.4 Lieutenant Charles Taylor. ................................................................. 7 1.5 The Bermuda Triangle ...................................................................... 7 1.6 The Grumman TBM-AvengerTorpedo Bomber. ....................................... 7 3.1 A reconstruction of the hospital where I was born .................................... 15 3.2 A reconstruction of the hospital where I was born (detail) ........................... 15 3.3 The hospital where I was born ............................................................ 15 3.4 Helicopter/Stork landing view of the hospital where I was born ..................... 16 4.1 Image from the opening scene of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" showing Flight l 9's rediscovery in the desert of Sonoma, Mexico ............................ 23 4.2 Images from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" showing Roy Neary (played by Richard Dreyfus) reconstructing the location where aliens will land ........... 23 4.3 Steven Spielberg's childhood home; actual house (top), in progress reconstruction (middle), and completed reconstruction (bottom) ..................................... 24 4.4 An image of me, in my childhood home, wearing an "E.T." costume .............. 25 Vil 5.1 Self-portrait, drawn by commissioned forensic artist Heatherly Kates ............. 29 5.2 Self-portrait, drawn by commissioned forensic artist Lois Gibson .................. 29 VIII CHAPTER 1 THE AVENGER It was a small invention; but Oscar Olsen's self-contained ball turret gun, with smooth, quick movements due to an electrically driven motor, was what made the United States Navy contractors favor the Grumman prototypes over those of the Chance Vaught Company. The year was 1939 and the United States Navy began an ambitious program to modernize and expand the size of its fleet. The United States had not yet entered the war that was sweeping across Europe. However, with Germany's invasion of Poland and Japan's aggressions in China, they knew their military would have to be prepared for battle. One of the many things needing upgrading was the Navy's VT class aircraft: the torpedo bomber. This was an aircraft designed mainly to hunt down and sink large targets such as destroyers, aircraft carriers, and submarines. Submarines were 'soft targets.' They were mainly offensive weapons and had little means of defending themselves if attacked. However, they were difficult to sink due to their speed and ability to disappear quickly beneath the oceans surface if attacked. If a VT squadron was hunting submarines, they would need to first locate one, then sneak up on it, then destroy it. Battleships and aircraft carriers were 'hard targets.' They were heavily defended. If a VT squadron were to approach an enemy fleet, they would need to dive from a high altitude to mount the attack. During the descent, they would first encounter waves of enemy fighter planes. If they survived these, the torpedo bomber would navigate through a wall of anti-aircraft gunfire and shrapnel. They would then drop to an altitude just 1 above the ocean's smface, aim and launch their torpedo, and climb back into the sky; back through the shrapnel, anti-aircraft, and enemy fighters. Hopefully, having sunk an enemy ship and surviving the flight, the torpedo bomber would land safely back on its aircraft carrier. It was understood that most squadrons would suffer heavy casualties when attacking 'hard targets.' Needless to say, it was an extremely hazardous job to be a pilot or crewmember of a torpedo bomber. In addition to the danger, the Navy had an inferior aircraft to do the job. The Navy was equipped with squadrons of Douglas TBD-1 Devastators. These planes had armor too thin to repel any form of enemy attack, moved too slowly to reach its target before being shot down, and could not hold enough fuel to even reach its target. The Devastator was dated. If the United States were to enter the war, it would need a better VT class aircraft. In October of 1939, the Navy issued a request for proposals to the aviation industry for a new torpedo bomber to replace the Douglas TBM-1 Devastator. Grumman won this contract due to Oscar Olsen's work on creating a new, better ball turret gun. In the ensuing months, Grumman worked around the clock on perfecting a prototype to meet the Navy's requirements. The final result was an aircraft powered by a Wright R- 2600-8 Cyclone engine driving a Hamilton standard pitch propeller. It could reach a blistering top speed of 271 mph and easily maintained 200mph as an extended flight speed. The prototype had a climb rate of 1,430 feet per minute, a ceiling of 22,400 feet, and a normal range of 1,215 miles. The aircraft's skin was composed of half-inch armor plating to protect its pilot, gunner, and radioman. The defensive armament consisted of one .50 caliber machine gun with 400 rounds of ammunition mounted in the ball turret which was located between the cockpit and the dorsal fin, a .30 caliber machine gun with 300 rounds fixed in the front starboard side which was fired by the pilot, and a .30 caliber machine gun with 500 rounds mounted on the lower, back side 'stinger' position operated by the radio man. Its offensive weaponry was housed in the internal bomb bay under the wing's center section. It could hold an unprecedented 2,000 pounds and could be equipped with GP (general purpose) bombs, torpedoes, depth charges, mines, or an extra 2 fuel tank. In short the prototype-the XTBF-1-was a state-of-the-art aircraft that eclipsed its predecessor. On December 7, 1941 Japan launched a surprise attack and crippled the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor. The United States immediately declared