# **Document Analysis: "The Two Questions" (from *What It Is*)**

## **I. Broad Stylistic Framing & Materiality**

This sequence acts as a visual essay exploring creativity, anxiety, and the psychological blocks that hinder artistic expression. The style is synonymous with Lynda Barry's "image-streaming" technique—a dense, organic, and collage-heavy aesthetic that mimics the chaotic flow of human memory and imagination.

### **Materials & Medium**
* **The "Collage" Aesthetic:** The pages are not drawn on blank canvas but constructed. The borders are composed of found materials: vintage wallpaper, decorative tape, Japanese washi paper, old calendars, and painted strips.
* **Ink & Wash:** The primary medium is black India ink applied with dip pens (for scratchy, nervous lines) and brushes (for bold text and filling). This is supplemented by watercolor or ink washes that dictate the emotional temperature of the page.
* **Horror Vacui:** The composition is defined by a fear of empty space. Every margin is filled with doodles—spirals, microbial shapes, eyes, and birds. This visual clutter represents the "noise" of the creative mind.

### **Recurring Visual Motifs**
1. **The Squid/Octopus:** Represents the **creative subconscious**. Initially, it is drawn as a scary monster or a nuisance. By the end, it is revealed to be a muse and a teacher.
2. **The Ghosts:** Represent **critics** (both internal and external). They are shapeshifters—sometimes scary, sometimes pathetic, sometimes "pimps" demanding payment/validation.
3. **The Birds:** Appearing in almost every border, they act as silent witnesses to the narrative.
4. **Hand-Lettering:** Text is never typed. It shifts between:
* **Cursive/Script:** Used for the internal, vulnerable narrative voice.
* **Block Caps:** Used for loud, aggressive, or authoritative voices (critics, teachers, rules).

### **Color Psychology**
The sequence follows a distinct emotional color arc:
* **Blue:** Represents "The Floating Feeling"—the state of creative flow, water, and the subconscious. (Beginning and End).
* **Sepia/Brown:** Represents memory and nostalgia.
* **Sickly Green/Olive:** Represents shame, anxiety, and the feeling of doing something "wrong."
* **Fleshy Peach/Red:** Represents the "heat" of ego, frustration, and burnout.

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## **II. Page-by-Page Breakdown**

### **Page 123: The Intrusion**
* **Visual Context:** The introduction of the conflict. The artist sits at her desk, hunched and tense. The "Two Questions" loom over her shoulder as a hairy, squid-like monster.
* **Key Text:**
* *Title:* **TWO QUESTIONS**
* *Bubbles:* "IS THIS GOOD?" / "DOES THIS SUCK?"
* *Narrative:* "I’m not sure when these two questions became the only two questions I had about my work... I just know I’d stopped enjoying it and instead began to dread it."
* **Stylistic Note:** The bottom half of the page dissolves into a staircase of discarded drawings, symbolizing failure.

### **Page 124: The Origin (Childhood Flow)**
* **Visual Context:** A flashback to childhood. The artist is a girl drawing on the floor. The lines are looser and more energetic. The bottom panel shows the chaotic, violent, hilarious nature of children's play (explosions, monsters).
* **Key Text:**
* *Narrative:* "WHEN I WAS LITTLE... MAKING LINES ON PAPER GAVE ME A CERTAIN FLOATING FEELING. IT MADE ME FEEL LIKE I WAS BOTH THERE AND NOT THERE."
* *Dialogue:* "IT'S DRACULA!" / "HE'S POOPING!" / "AND THE MUMMY IS POOPING BACK!" / "BUT IT'S LAVA!"
* **Stylistic Note:** The use of "toilet humor" anchors the creativity in reality, contrasting with the philosophical narration.

### **Page 125: The Invasion**
* **Visual Context:** A vertical split. The top is light (the flow); the bottom is dark and heavy. A massive black scribbled cloud containing inverted white text dominates the center.
* **Key Text:**
* *Narrative:* "BEFORE the TWO QUESTIONS... ONE LINE LED TO ANOTHER UNTIL THEY SOMEHOW FINISHED."
* *Inverted Text:* **"BUT THE TWO QUESTIONS FIND EVERYBODY"**
* *Dialogue:* "Where IS SHe?" / "SHOW ME!" / "LET'S SEE THAT PICTURE-STORY!!"
* **Stylistic Note:** The visual transition from light to dark marks the end of innocent creativity.

### **Page 126: The Trap of Praise**
* **Visual Context:** A specific memory of 1st Grade. The "Monster" appears holding a sign saying "Here comes the night," foreshadowing that even praise triggers anxiety. The punchline is visually revealed in the bottom corner (the inappropriate drawing).
* **Key Text:**
* *Narrative:* "Mine CAME IN THE GUISE OF THE TWO MOST POPULAR GIRLS IN MY 1st GRADE CLASS."
* *Narrative:* "IT LASTED a FEW Days."
* *Teacher:* "WHAT IN THE---"
* *Inset Image:* A child's drawing of nude women (Playboy bunnies).
* **Stylistic Note:** The blue wash on the octopus signals its connection to the deep self, even when appearing as a threat.

### **Page 127: The Shame (Green Phase)**
* **Visual Context:** The color palette shifts to a **sickly olive green**. The mother is depicted as a chaotic force (cigarette, phone). The concept of "dirty" or "bad" art is introduced.
* **Key Text:**
* *Narrative:* "IT TURNS OUT THERE ARE ALSO DRAWINGS WHICH CAN MAKE PEOPLE **DISLIKE** YOU. DRAWINGS THAT MAKE PEOPLE THINK YOU ARE DIRTY OR STUPID OR LAME."
* *Dialogue:* "YES, THIS IS LYNDA'S MOTHER-- ... **SHE DREW WHAT IN SCHOOL TODAY?!**"
* *Narrative:* "BECAUSE I'D FIGURED OUT HOW TO MAKE THE GOOD KIND."
* **Stylistic Note:** The "Good Kind" of art is shown in a rigid, horizontal strip at the bottom—art made for transaction/approval, not joy.

### **Page 128: The Internal Critic**
* **Visual Context:** The artist is berated by personified emotions. The "Two Questions" act as gatekeepers. The page is crowded and noisy.
* **Key Text:**
* *The Rule:* "**RULE #1: IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS, IT SUCKS.**"
* *Dialogue:* "BE GREAT!" / "YOU SUCK!" / "GIVE US THIS USELESS PIECE OF *@#*."
* **Stylistic Note:** "Not Knowing" is framed here as a failure, setting up the eventual resolution where it becomes the strength.

### **Page 129: The Depression (Peach/Red Phase)**
* **Visual Context:** A 30-year time jump. The artist is exhausted. The top panel is black with white stippling (stars/dust). A ghost holds a mirror-writing sign "REMEMBER." The colors are warm/fleshy, indicating burnout.
* **Key Text:**
* *Narrative:* "FOR THE NEXT 30 YEARS I CHASED AFTER ONLY GOOD DRAWING... MY ONLY FEELINGS WERE RELIEF AND REGRET."
* *Crowd Noise:* "GENIUSSS" / "EEEDEEOT!" / "I POOPED IT!"
* **Stylistic Note:** The "Remember" ghost hints that the solution is already present in the subconscious.

### **Page 130: The Ego (The Hostage)**
* **Visual Context:** The monsters are now labeled "**ME**," revealing the questions are rooted in ego. The narrative uses a "ransom note" metaphor.
* **Key Text:**
* *Narrative:* "The Two Questions held that part of me hostage"
* *Dialogue:* "I **TOLDJA**! YOU'LL GET IT BACK WHEN YOU CAN TELL ME WHAT THE **★@#ø** IT IS... BESIDES **THE FACT** THAT IT'S **YOURS**"
* **Stylistic Note:** The background stippling creates a "static" effect, representing confusion.

### **Page 131: Pandora’s Box (Return to Blue)**
* **Visual Context:** The scene moves underwater (blue wash). A massive squid swims past a tiny boat. The "missing part" is locked in a crate labeled "S.S. PANDORA."
* **Key Text:**
* *Narrative:* "What the #%@* Was it?? ... IT TURNS OUT the ANSWER WAS UNTHINKABLE--"
* *Dialogue:* "BECAUSE, LIKE THE PIMP SAID, I DON'T STEAL NOTHING FROM THE GIRL EXCEPT HER MIND!"
* **Stylistic Note:** The "Pimp" metaphor aggressively frames the commercialization/validation of art as abusive.

### **Page 132: The Intellectual Trap**
* **Visual Context:** The artist sits on a stack of books (Freud, Dante, Dr. Seuss), trying to "think" her way out. Torpedoes labeled with judgments launch from below.
* **Key Text:**
* *Narrative:* "NO ONE HAD ever SOLVED THE RIDDLE BY THINKING THEIR WAY out of it."
* *Torpedoes:* "**STUPID**" / "**BRILLIANT**" / "**MORON**" / "**GENIUS**"
* **Stylistic Note:** By placing "Brilliant" and "Stupid" on identical torpedoes, Barry visually argues that *any* judgment destroys creativity.

### **Page 133: The Solution**
* **Visual Context:** A bright, lime-green page. Smiling monkeys hold protest signs. This is the turning point.
* **Key Text:**
* *Tentacle Text:* "REMEMBER TO FORGET TO FORGET TO REMEMBER"
* *The Signs:* "GIVE UP BECAUSE IT'S HOPELESS" / "**MAKE USELESS PICTURES**" / "WASTE TIME and MATERIALS" / "**HAVE NO PURPOSE**"
* **Stylistic Note:** The solution is paradoxical. To regain art, one must abandon the desire for it to be "good" or "useful."

### **Page 134: The Surrender**
* **Visual Context:** The climax. A calendar strip on the left marks the passage of time. The artist screams in frustration.
* **Key Text:**
* *Narrative:* "HAS NO MEMORY OF HAVING SOLVED THIS PROBLEM BEFORE."
* *Artist:* "**I GIVE UP! I DON'T KNOW! I DON'T KNOW, OK?!!**"
* *Ghosts:* "WHO TOLD YOU?"
* **Stylistic Note:** The admission of "I Don't Know" breaks the spell of the ghosts.

### **Page 135: The Resolution**
* **Visual Context:** Calm, cool blue returns. A silver diamond border frames the scene. The squid (now labeled "**DON'T KNOW**") gently hugs the artist. She writes "ABRACAD..." (Magic).
* **Key Text:**
* *Narrative:* "THAT STRANGE FLOATING FEELING... CAME BACK."
* *Narrative:* "TO BE ABLE TO STAND **NOT KNOWING** LONG ENOUGH to LET SOMETHING ALIVE TAKE SHAPE!"
* *Call to Action:* "**COME BACK!**"
* **Stylistic Note:** The monster is re-contextualized as the muse. The phrase "Don't Know" transforms from a confession of failure into a magic spell.

### **Colophon: The Totem**
* **Visual Context:** A full-page painting of a blue octopus against green stripes. Text is pasted on collage strips.
* **Key Text:**
* *Dedication:* "**For Marilyn Frasca**" / "**TEACHER**"
* *Copyright:* Lynda Barry, 2008.
* **Stylistic Note:** The octopus is dignified and "bejeweled" with silver dots. The label "TEACHER" confirms the book's thesis: the subconscious mind is not a monster to be fought, but a teacher to be followed.