Page 125 - Just Deserts
P. 125

Chameleon Dress Tips

          Frisko barely glanced at the large coffee-table edition in the gallery
        owner’s hands. “What? Oh, that: I didn’t buy it, don’t like that kind
        of stuff. Too weird and old-fashioned. No, somebody sent it to me
        the  other  day—anonymously,  but  obviously  a  woman,  because  it
        came  with  a  rather  heavily-scented  gift  card  signed  ‘your  secret
        admirer.’  I’m  keeping  it  in  case  she  shows  up  and  wants  a  private
        showing.” He smirked.
          Beek did not acknowledge the attempt at male bonding. His eyes
        were  glued  to a  page  in  the  Escher  book.  “That’s  it!”  he  cried,  all
        reserve abandoned. “Eureka! This is too perfect! It will sell.  I have
        not a doubt about it. Look at this, Frisko!”
          “Eh? What have you got there?” The artist shuffled over to Beek
        and  peered  at  the  reproduction  evidently  provoking  the  latter’s
        excitement. “What’s that, a lizard with its tail curled around?”
          “What  genus  of  reptile  this  may  represent  is  irrelevant,”  replied
        Beek. “But it has crystallized a nascent structure in my mind. Here is
        your next success, Frisko: the chameleon.”
          “I  don’t  get  it.  I’m  a  conceptualist,  not  a  biology  textbook
        illustrator.”
          Evian  Beek  lay  the  book  down,  open  to  the  page  in  question.
        “Listen to me: the concept is right up your alley. You, and every artist
        today, must be like the chameleon, changing your coloration to suit
        the  environment  in  which  you  happen  to  find  yourself  at  the
        moment. It is your protection, and it is your genius. The chameleon is
        the new metaphor! And you will be its avatar. In a very limited run,
        of course. We can announce an advance subscription, say, of fifty at
        twenty thousand each. I’ll bet it would be snapped up in no time!”
          “Whoa, wait a minute: nobody’s going to pay big money for an
        image of a lizard. They’re not that stupid—are they?”
          “Ah, but let me finish,” gloated the dealer. “My clients will not feel
        the  slightest  bit  stupid  after  I  explain  the  concept  behind  the
        chameleon, and after they see it change color they will be completely
        entranced.”
          “Change  color?”  The  artist  gawked  at  the  book,  as  though
        expecting a live animal to leap from its pages.
          “Certainly!  Haven’t  you  heard  of  meliorite?  No?  Well,  it  was
        written up in one of the scientific journals not too long ago. It’s a
                                       124
   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130