Backpack of Gwynplaine

Backpack of Gwynplaine

Somewhen, in autumn of 1989 the first MTV broadcasting content on Soviet TV persuaded me to make a unique backpack from old Texas jeans what were produced in India in the beginning of 80s.

Those two pairs of jeans were worn by my father and sister during at least 5 years. After them, I used it next three years in the form of darned shorts with patches.

By 1989, all that left of those jeans was just my torn shorts, which could no longer be restored even to the condition of the Sabrina singer's analogue. Besides those shorts there were saved three trousers' legs from that old jeans from the knee level to their bottom.

So, I sewed a bag box from those two trosers' legs on our family's manual Zinger sewing-machine  and the third one was used for straps. I rippeted pockets off from that old shorts and conected it to the bag box as its pockets. The top of that rucksack was compressed by the rope like on American millitary duffel bags.

I was working just a pair hours till midnight for the creattion of tis something..

Of course, I took that mirrical backpack next morning and put in a pair of books, copybooks and pens for my study time. I was such a jubilant school boy then, when I came in the class room with smile from ear to ear.

As the result I received the Gwynplaine alias that day. Because it was the last drop for my kind classmates who saw me every morning with idiotic smile when I was late and tryed to find an eligible facial expression in front of strict teachers.

The nickname for me appeared not suddenly, but because of the The Man Who Laughs movie. That French movie shook our minds with its tragedy and dramatic collisions. We knew then that smile can be such a doomed mimical condition what testifies no one can be jubilant in vain!

Moreover in Soviet time people could smile only at official ceremonial events or mass patriotic demonstrations under the control of special structures. Soviet people could laugh openly only at jokes from TV-comedians or available comedy films. Simply put, then people could not rejoice in full their force.  Because there was nothing to rejoice in that simple life except for eternal values.

It was possible to laugh in an informal setting at short ridiculous joke stories. Any mimic reaction similar to a smile could arise in a mate circle as a mockery of a someone's failure as well. Therefore, any jubilation seemed strange and suspicious. After all, as the proverb said: Laughter for no reason was a sign of a fool.

It was my last year of school studying. I never touched a sewing machine again. But sometimes I would like to explode this world in the condition of a swamp by my antics.