Original artwork description:

This artwork is a thought chain reaction when watching the ‘Estranged’ Guns N’ Roses music video. I noticed Axl Rose is wearing a Manson top, then I looked at the timeline of Manson’s peak infamy, the music video date and so on. Manson also had an interest in music and on ‘The Spaghetti Incident’ GN’R made a cover.

They copped criticism for this revolving around the topics of how could Axl Rose wear the Manson top, then on top of that do a cover, the critics believed it’s making Mansons crimes look like an inviting thing to do, if very talented rock stars then wear your face.

I don’t really see it that way, the Manson face logo is aesthetically pleasing and as someone who’s been a designer in the past, it’s clear that Axl Rose didn’t commission the top, it already existed. The song also already existed and GN’R is known to do covers in general. Then I continued that train of thought, since the design already existed then someone was already profiting off Manson’s crimes… without the criticism. I continued to think and came to the conclusion that the moment a crime is committed, someone who isn’t the criminal begins to profit, starting with the government agent that responds to the crime, then the next of kin if there’s any assets, then the journalists that choose to report on it, then the news outlets, the channels that news outlets pay to have advertising on, the assistant that gets some CEO’s coffee and all the way down to the people dabbling in LawTube. When you dive this far into the rabbit hole, how does it make sense to vilify a rock band? Everyones guilty.

The artwork shows Manson’s logo made of spaghetti, referencing ‘The Spaghetti Incident’, and hands eating from it… since everyones taking a bite. When the artwork sells, I’ll grab my slice of the spaghetti pie and add to the list of horrible people profiting off Manson’s crimes.

This artwork was one of my 80 artworks project and a little rushed.

This artwork is one of my hand-stretched ones, sold with hooks ready to hang and a certificate of authenticity.

Materials used:

Water soluble oils

Tags: