A Love Letter About LOST by Paul Burrows

Six years ago Lost crashed into our living rooms and into our hearts and like the Smoke Monster it hasn’t let go. The Smoke Monster, the Polar Bears and “Where Are We?” have sucked us to the island like the giant magnet in Desmond’s Hatch. Once on the island we have followed the journey of Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Locke and many other memorable characters and learned many important life lessons which were the real heart of the show. We have debated, discussed and tried to figure out what’s inside the Hatch, Who the Others are and Why they follow a mysterious man named Jacob. Through this great journey LOST has given us great characters, important life lessons, mysteries to solve and most importantly a community of friends to debate and discuss something that we love.

When I first heard about Lost the idea of a group of people crash landing on an island full of mysteries it sounded awesome. It was about a seemingly deserted island where the people have to band together and fend off animals, environment, and each other. Then it’s revealed that there’s a giant Smoke Monster and another group of people there who not only won’t help, but kidnap and kill them one by one. There were so many mysteries about who these people were, what the monster was and most of all, what the island was. Lost was like an onion, the more that you peeled away, the more that you found out the more questions were raised. Over time as we found out who the Others were, we were left to wonder who this Jacob was. As we found out what or who the Smoke Monster was, we were left asking why he wanted off the island. Or when the Hatch was opened we wondered about Dharma. This infuriated some, but it kept millions of people coming back week after week. Mysteries were what brought fans to LOST, but the thing that grounded the show were the characters and their stories.

First episode we got one image of a scruffy looking man sitting on a piece of wreckage reading a piece of paper. This very short moment created such a mystery about this man and it created so many questions about who he was and what he was reading. Then there was the Hero of the story, or should I say Anti-Hero, a doctor who you would think had it all together. A man who had been part of the miracle of saving his wife’s broken spine, but still refused to believe in anything including himself. Or the story of a man who did believe things to a fault, whose trust in a Father lead him out a window to be smashed against the pavement below, but still miraculously survived and was healed by the island. And over the arc of the series, the scruffy Con-Man finally becomes a hero and leader, the doctor learns to believe, the believer’s faith is proven true, the girl on the run from the law learns to stop and help others, and the torturer redeems his soul through the ultimate sacrifice. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one of the most important characters of the show, Michael Giacchino’s emotionally charged music is just as much of a character as Jack, Jacob or Ben, its enhances every scene that it’s in. Through the use of Flashbacks, Flashforwards and Flashsideways we come to know these people, and come to care for them. Over the course of the series we see their ups and downs as they struggle to make the choices to achieve their destinies. Through it all many important ideas are presented which cause us to stop and think about our own lives and who we are. Powerful ideas like destiny, choice, revenge, redemption, friendship, leadership, community, and many more. Unlike most of what’s on TV now LOST causes the viewer to think about what they are watching and even discuss it all with others.

The mysteries and characters not only caused people to come back each week, but it created such a devotion that millions of people flocked to the internet to create websites and blogs about the show, discuss and debate what was happening and would be happening, look up spoilers and even create their own art and music devoted to LOST. One of the greatest things about this is that communities were formed in places like Ain’t It Cool, Lost for Life, Spoiler TV and many, many other forums. Friendships were formed as people from all sorts of walks of life gathered together to be part of this growing experience. ABC started noticing the effect that this was having and started creating an Alternate reality game, which was a way for fans to stay excited about LOST during the long June to January hiatus and find out more information about the Lost world that the creators couldn’t fit into the actual show. Things like info on Dharma and its founders, the chance to become a member of Dharma. There was even a chance to buy LOST themed art created by up and coming commercial artists. This amazing atmosphere even inspired me to open a store and start creating LOST themed art and products.

Because of the multi layered mysteries, the deep and engaging characters and the community that has grown out of this show, LOST is a truly great experience that has and will affect TV programing for years to come. It tugs at your heartstrings and leaves you thinking about your own life. Lost is a great story with a legacy that is still being felt and will continue to do so for years to come.

ARG Art Gallery Event

I arrived in line at about 7:15pm and was in line until about 8:15pm. This was the line at the time. If you watch G4's report I was right next to the woman in her final bit.

ARG Art Gallery Event

Damon Lindeloff and Carlton Cuse were at the event signing posters. I gave Carlton a Room 23 Sketchbook and a set of Trading Cards (which will go on sale in January) (I give Damon a set at his Ultimate Wolverine vs Hulk signing) and got a picture taken with both of them. Then I asked Carlton if Cindy's story was over or if we would get her story and he said that we would see her in the premiere. I asked the same thing about the children Zack & Emma and he said the same thing!

ARG Art Gallery Event

ARG Art Gallery Event

This is definately my favorate painting besides The Crash. I left the image files big so that you can click on them to study everything. Sorry about the flash light.

ARG Art Gallery Event

ARG Art Gallery Event

ARG Art Gallery Event

ARG Art Gallery Event

These Maquettes or Statues were being sold for $500 dollars each. I believe they light up.

This is Paul Sheer and I standing in front of the velvet paintings after I gave him a copy of my Room 23 sketchbook. He actually didn't do the paintings, some woman with pink dreadlocks did.

Tim Doyle for The Numbers

The actor who plays Little Ben showed up at the club tonight and gave out this web adress which has the ARG's first fan created piece of artwork for sale. http://actuallyitsketchup.com/dcpb/I/ Its on sale for $50.
In celebration of LOST's final season and as a project of fan appreciation, 16 top designers and artists, who are also fans of the show, were commissioned to create artwork celebrating one of the series' most memorable, and unforgettable, "water cooler" moments. This ultimate "fan art" was then turned into labor intensive, hand-pulled screen prints, limited to an edition of just 300, with less than 200 available to the public through our websites. Each beautiful poster tells its own different story, allowing the fan to relive memorable and influential moments in an artistic manner, as the show's storied run comes to a close. Once this limited edition print has sold out, they will never be printed again. Celebrate the fandom, community and family created by one of televisions' greatest shows by hanging a little part of it's history, inspiration and influence on your wall.

Please allow 3-4 weeks delivery. No edition number requests can be fulfilled and each print will be shipped individually, so we can cannot combine shippi ng costs. Due to the fragile nature of hand-applied screen printing, these posters are promised in mint to near mint condition. Small differences in coloring and ot her minor defects are part of the uniqueness of these art pieces. Due to the limited nature o f this project, here will be no refunds, exchanges or replacements. Customer Service inquiries can be sent to TGCustomerService@gmail.com.

Poster for the first ARG event

Nancy Drew Has Done More Sleuthing

For those of you who have an interest in the ARG's for the LOST hiatus, Nancy Drew, over at Lostaholics.com has done an in depth analysis of the Octagon Recruiting Video, finding a few rather curious tidbits. Take a look here if you wish to read the article on her findings... http://www.lostaholics.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=126&Itemid=1

source: lostaholics.com