IG: @common_nothing
frazerillustration.com

Operation Acoustic Kitty 

The CIA launched Operation Acoustic Kitty during the Cold War in 1966 to create a recording device that can be surgically installed inside cats. The cats would then be released in front of the Soviet embassy in DC to record outdoor conversations. Successfully one cat was bugged and released, then immediately hit by a taxi and the project was canceled in 1967, costing 20 million dollars at the time.

My influence for the pen and ink illustrations are Edward Gorey and R. Crumb - In the story, I  referenced Stanley Kubrick’s use of symbolism to have other narratives and distant absurdity. All artists were working at the time of this story in 1966. This is an ode to traditional illustration methods while also reviving them in a contemporary context.

Bio

The work I make can be detailed and absurd with bursts of ornate hatching, setting different scenes and the characters that exist within it with cartoonish humor or contrasted unsettling faces. I produce editorial, portraiture, commercial and narrative illustrations. I love to depict people, animals, scenes real or fictional, cartoons, humor and farcical characters with detail or simplicity.