Ed Ruscha's *Rooster* exemplifies his signature use of unconventional materials, employing gunpowder and pastel on paper to render bold, graphic text against a atmospheric, smoky ground. The word "ROOSTER" emerges with a cinematic quality, blurring the line between language and image in a way that is at once stark and evocative. The combustible medium lends the work an inherent tension, charging the mundane subject of the title with a raw, elemental energy.