Rainbowers

(From 2012, about a community, unread by anyone, translated)

Community where I create my work:
My comunity creates works with me or in parallel to me with the aim to increase their repertoire and to show the rest of the community and who happens to see it.

Who are they:
My colleges in the course, my 'original friends', the strangers I start interesting conversations with, the musicians who want to plat with me, the familiar faces who want to draw with me and whoever else wants to sing karaoke with me.

Imaginary community:
We make rainbows. Not the ones which appear in the sky yet. We're still only 2nd year students of the bachelor's degree in Post-Pluvial Firmament Aesthetics which is a more presumptuous way of saying it. A characteristic, let's mention in passing, common to many of the enrolled, only because of the high average grade required to get in. Not my case, as I entered with a scholarship.
I write this in the school bar by the way, decorated by people from my course from fifteen years ago apparently. There are no white spaces on the walls, only colors, without a doubt a consequent of the old maxim of our profession: "White is the junction of all colors, however it is the least beautiful, as such it should be made separate whenever possible". I create a little rainbow from my coffee cup to my classmates' who sits in front of me. I caught him off guard, he laughs. Next to him another one scowls, I know why, he thinks I used to much blue, it was intentional: I thought it would look nice. We're in the break of the Analysis of Astral Contrast (I) class, one of the less interesting subjects. It deals with theory around how to best combine color and luminosity of rainbows to particular types of skyscapes, for example, how to deal with a twilight: it should be bright enough but not so much that it sticks out in the surrounding light. But the most common case is dealing with dark clouds since they're typically present during a rainbow. My favorite subject is Introduction to Rainbow Generation. Nothing can compare to the feeling of creating a rainbow. Some students are more focused in Rainbow Design and plan to be merely designers but to me, although more arduous and toilful it is my passion. Some of my colleges got into the course as second option, failing to get accepted in Aurora Borealis Aesthetics and I usually identify myself more with them than the designers but everything has its art after all. Being a fairly specific area there are few people in the course. The theoretical curricula isn't particularly encompassing either, focusing mainly on subtle harmonious variations of amount of color and positioning of the rainbows. One should keep in mind the detailed aspect of it all, not only because the color range occupies a limited range of the visible spectrum but it's relation to the sublime scale of the rainbow and how it fits in a landscape. This duality is what I'm most interested in.
Break is almost over, I get up to go to class. Today's topic is unexpectedly engaging: Rainbows against the backdrop of very white clouds. A rare event to be sure, but it is the time when colors of the rainbow can be most accentuated because of the white backdrop. I yearn for the day when I'll be privileged to create on in that sky.
We enter the classroom leaving a trail of a dozen rainbows in the wood by the campus.

Dialogue:
GUSTAV is at the bar sitting at a table. CHARLES sits opposite him. ARMANDO is next to him quietly absorbed in his thoughts drinking his coffee. CHARLES has a french accent and is thin and tall and currently in a good mood. He has green eyes. GUSTAV creates a small rainbow from his coffe cup to CHARLES'. CHARLES smiles. ARMANDO is apathetic.

ARMANDO

(bored) Very funny...

CHARLES

(laughs) Hey, you do know that we won't have any jobs when we get out of this place?

GUSTAV

I've known that since always. Something changed in the meantime?

CHARLES

Yes. Our course is now also available in Lisbon. Doesn't have the same name but it's basically the same thing.

GUSTAV

Do you know the actual name?

CHARLES

Stratospheric Design and Decoration. They do some other things besides rainbows but it's not much different. Only it's not a bachelor's.

ARMANDO rolls his eyes, still bored.

GUSTAV

Charles, market competitivity is good, I learned it in Management class. I had Management class by the way, did I mention it?

CHARLES

No, you didn't. And that's not the point. First off, there is no market for any of us anyway, we're guaranteedly unemployed upon finishing the course.

GUSTAV

 (laughs) That's true.

CHARLES takes a cigarette out of his pack and puts it in his mouth. He feels around his jacket.

CHARLES

Merde. GUSTAV, do you have a lighter?

GUSTAV

I don't smoke.

CHARLES

(puzzled) Since when?

GUSTAV

Since always. Charles, we've known each other for a year and a half.

CHARLES

Pardon, I didn't notice.

ARMANDO passes his lighter to CHARLES.

CHARLES

Thank you, friend. (lights the cigarette)

CHARLES

It's like this. (takes a puff and blows out the smoke)

I have a buddy at that school and, apparently (smiles), the teaching there is much more... progressive, let's say.

GUSTAV

Progressive?

CHARLES

Like. Different. Radicaler. Compared to ours at least. Know what I mean?

GUSTAV

I don't know what you mean.

CHARLES

(impavid) Gustav.

GUSTAV

Give me an example.

CHARLES

Ah, bon, they don't follow our conventions. They're being taught they can make rainbows with the triple the thickness, or without some colors. Can you imagine, a rainbow without green?

GUSTAV

I can't.

CHARLES

It seems a certain student even created one in their workshop with was totally brown!

ARMANDO

That is ridiculous.

GUSTAV

A bit. But I can see how it would be interesting.

CHARLES

You're not listening to me. That's exactly the problem.

GUSTAV

It being interesting?

CHARLES

Of course! You know as well as I do that when there's something new and different everyone goes crazy over it and jump on the bandwagon, no matter how shitty it is.

GUSTAV

Shitty like a brown rainbow?

CHARLES

Exactly. It's like color cinema! Or television! Or electronic music! (without any panic) We are doomed.

GUSTAV

That's a bummer. But what can a guy do, I just love doing this.

CHARLES

Me too. I'm only afraid of becoming irrelevant (pulls out another cigarette)

 GUSTAV

Hmm, well at least we can be sure they won't get a job either.

CHARLES

(blows out smoke hastily) At least there's that. (smiles)

Minutes later. The bar is empty.

A small brown rainbow hangs out of a coffee cup.