Seurat, Weezer and Fiction

I'm in love---momentarily---with Weezer. Just for the moment, but really smitten.
You see, while working on the aforementioned viral marketing storyrecently I stumbled upon the new Weezer video "Pork and Beans." (www.weezer.com or www.youtube.com/watch?v=muP9eH2p2PI) It's smart. And it reminds me of Seurat.
If you haven't seen the video check it out. The director, Matthew Cullen, took a bunch of the Nets most famous people and videos and mashed them together. For the most part he didn't use outtakes from the videos but instead brought the stars in to "relive" their roles, set to "Pork and Beans." Chris Crocker (who I actually didn't know until I started this viral marketing story. Hey, don't call me old!) does that whole crying jag, but instead of screaming "leave Brittney alone" he's lip syncing a line from the song. The Star Wars kids aren't there but there's a nod to them when light sabers come out. And, the band plays in front of a diet-coke-and-mentos-fountain.
Ok, now I admit, I've been a bit out of touch lately (see my last post) so I didn't actually know most of the videos and people referenced, but I got the concept anyway and loved it.
And here's what I really love about it: I love the complexity. I love the intricacy. I love the subtlety. I love the subtext.
It's what I want my fiction to do.
Years ago I saw a Seurat exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum and at that time I had I similar, though more profound, experience. Seurat is pointillism. His pictures are made up of hundreds of tiny dots. Stand at a distance and the image is whole and rich. Only when you get close do you realize the image in the painting is actually a collection of tiny parts.
It was in that moment, in the Seattle Art Museum, that I understood that I wanted my fiction to be like literary pointillism. On the surface I want my stories to be complete and smooth and whole. Only after close examination do you notice the threads running throughout. Only on careful examination do you start unraveling the story, touching on the smallest metaphors and images, revealing all that subtext. Granted, most readers will never figure out that the bourbon in my "Out of Season" is unnamed, but HAS to be Wild Turkey given the context of the piece. I don't expect them to. But I am pleased to reveal this little detail to my friends. And though it doesn't get me published, I like this element of craft in my fiction.
And so I like Seurat. AndI like Weezer. And I like Matt Cullens. And I like the intricacies and sense of play in the video. Nice work.