Before Season 3, the only way we knew Diane was through Special Agent Dale Cooper’s tape recorder. This recorder is the subject for new artwork from the Twin Peaks 30th Anniversary collaboration with Society6 artist Requiescat.
JUNE 9 – REQUIESCAT
Titled “Diane,” Requiescat (also know as Italian artist Giorgio Deponti) drew one of Cooper’s three handheld tape recorders floating on a star field.
COOPER’S TAPE RECORDER
Special Agent Cooper and his tape recorder go hand-in-hand in Twin Peaks. It’s through that recorder that we get to know him from his 1 minute and 32-second drive into the small town of Twin Peaks.
Interestingly, the handheld recorder doesn’t appear in the original “Northwest Passage” script. Cooper instead dictates notes into a microphone attached to his lapel which goes to a recorder on his belt.
Behind the wheel is FBI field agent DALE COOPER, mid-thirties, handsome in an unremarkable way. He activates and speaks into a microphone attached to his lapel, connected to a small, Walkman-sized tape recorder clipped to his belt.
The tape recorder, however, became synonymous with Cooper. It even had a StarPics trading card in 1991.
The back of the card explained why Cooper used a recorder:
“Cooper’s interest in recording the smallest details of his life is made clear through his use of a tape recorder. In his autobiography, Agent Cooper: My Life, My Tapes (Pocket Books, Spring 1991), Cooper explains that this fascination dates back to his childhood days when he was forced to carry a heavy two-reed tape recorder on his back. He was grateful when the pocket-sized recorder was developed.”
REALISTIC MICRO-26
While this article is begging for a longer analysis of Cooper’s recorder, I’ll highlight one of them that inspired Requiescat’s art – the Realistic Micro-26. It’s best seen when Cooper activates the automatic voice recording option at the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department in Episode 1006.
Special thanks to Twin Peaks Archive and Pete Vilmur for first identifying this model.
THE PRODUCTS
Requiescat’s artwork is available as a print, sticker, tote bag and wall mural.
It’s also found on a case created for modern day tape recorder also known as a mobile phone. What would Agent Cooper have done with such modern marvels?
THE ARTIST
Italian freelance, graphic designer Giorgio Deponti created the Requiescat project which focuses on “graphic illustrations and animations made of stars, space, uncommon objects and glitchy patterns, all in black and white.”
Follow Requiescat on Instagram (@requiescat_rqsct and @_oigroig) or check out his work on his portfolio website.
Additional artwork from him is found on Society6.
30-DAY COUNTDOWN
So the countdown continues. Here’s to a few more weeks of damn fine art. Give yourself a present, and check out Society6’s website for Twin Peaks.
