Sunday, November 11, 2007

Veterans Day



On this somber holiday, consider an alternate present from painter Sandow Birk -- The Liberation of Baghdad.

(High res PDF here.)

3 comments:

  1. Absolutely brilliant. The irony may be just a bit too understated for American jingoist lunkheads, but straight-faced sincerity is a sine qua non in this kind of Dada kunstkrieg.

    Reminds me very much of Laibach and NSK.

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  2. Laibach. That's new to me, Dave -- way cool. Where's a good place to start?

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  3. The Anthems album is a very good cross section of their work from early art-noise to smooth 21st century agit-pop. I recommend that as the best starting point.

    They have quite a discography. Early works like The Occupied Europe Tour and MB December 21 capture their proto-industrial sound. Lots of Josip Broz samples to be found.

    Let It Be is middle Laibach: a complete reimagining of the Beatles last album. Sympathy for the Devil and Life is Life date from around then: superlative, Volkish, bruitalistic covers of Western pop-faves. If they ever united with Paris Hilton, we would not stand a chance.

    Jesus Christ Superstars is a heavy-metal exploration of religion. Listen to it on 11. NATO was their response to the war in Bosnia. It's a very good album, though I think the horror is almost understated. WAT is Laibach in it's most modern glory, post 9-11. It's a lot less cover driven, or at least the satiric re-purposing of covers is more thorough.

    Those are the main albums I've listened to.

    You should check out the essays and early interviews (a real scream)on http://www.nskstate.com/index.php. It is the site for the Neue Slowenische Kunst collective (Laibach is the propaganda arm). It's an art collective with its own global state. They issue passports too.

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