New Status Update!

Nice, very nice! We´re patiently waiting...

New Tweet!

Well, yes, once again a huge congratulations for your ever growing career as a visual artist, Manson!

Now please, could we move on to Mexico City?

Marilyn Manson At "Genealogies Of Pain" Exhibition...

review by Beli Cantu.
June 28th 2010.

The highlight of this exhibition was definitely "Are You Sure You´re Comfortable?" from the Elizabeth Short as Snow White series, inspired by the shocking autopsy pictures taken from the Black Dahlia murders.

Many of the watercolors shown were made as early as 2002, which I would consider this to be Marilyn Manson´s period when "The Golden Age Of Grotesque" came out.

In general the technique expresses and gives a very ephimerous motif, yet the main subject of pain makes them more everlasting than any other work I´ve seen so far. It seems each of the protagonists of Manson´s paintings is clearly defined, however most of the time there is a lack of space and time, like a background. So at the end of the day, this collection of tormented creatures become more of a plaything, which can also lead to yet another interesting path which is self-discovery and finding a comfortable identity.

Despite the scary look of these watercolors such as the case of "I've Got My Arm Around No One" the use of vibrant and decaying colors establishes a certain dialogue with the viewer, which is one of the most important elements of Expressionism.

A very clever phrase I like very much about this interview, from the man himself:

"Painting does not have an audience like music does".

In a way it´s true. Art appeals may be appealing to everyone and they´re always welcome to watch it, no matter how daring it might seem, it´s art. But music for some reason is more personalized, so much that at some point it makes the listener isolate, thus the huge success of portable players.

Congrats to Manson for this show, hope he infects the world with art and not only music.
The video of the opening night held at Kunsthalle Wien:

New Status Update: AS-IS-NESS

We suspect that the AS stands for "Antichrist Superstar". Well, the video is out of the bag, could it be that there will be a re-release of this infamous album, probably the most important record in Marilyn Manson´s career?

Afterall, it has been almost fifteen years since it first came out. There´s a lot of stuff that remains a mystery, besides this latest video. 1996 was also the year we discovered Marilyn Manson existed, and all because of MTV. Well, techincally I stole a mixed tape from a friend of my brother, and from there I slowly crawled my way into "Antichrist Superstar". Your mother would never let you listen to that, so it was fun to listen to it behind closed doors, that was the whole POINT! Pissing people off! If it didn´t, then it wasn´t rock n´roll.

The Antichrist Superstar Official Video: The Controversy Continues.

Earlier we joked about 6/19, or June 19th. What happened? Did the World end, the Apocalypse rising?

Nope, just a video, a rare Marilyn Manson production of the song "Antichrist Superstar" directed E. Elias Merhige and produced by Henry S. Rosenthal, circa 08/17/1996.

But who are these people anyway?

Merhige is best known to mainstream audiences for the 2000 film Shadow of the Vampire, and to underground audiences for the cult-classic 1991 film Begotten.

He´s also credited for directing "Cryptorchid", which cinematography is similar to that of "Antichrist Superstar".

"Cryptorchid" was included as a bonus material to the DVD release of Lest We Forget back in 2004.

Henry S. Rosenthal has produced a great deal of horror films as well.

The few commercial videos that were made for the album "Antichrist Superstar" were:

- The Beautiful People, directed by Floria Sigismondi.

- Tourniquet, also directed by Floria Sigismondi

- Man That You Fear, directed by Wiz.

All of these were highly ambitious productions, which later on was nominated for important awards, in the case of The Beautiful People.

The question is: why did Cryptorchid and Antichrist Superstar get shelved? Are these videos connected in some way other than their aesthetic?

Some "authorities" advised us not to discuss too much about this leaked forgotten production, but we´ll go ahead and build the excitement.

ACSS was entirely filmed in black and white. It is also reminiscent of "Cryptorchid" and contains footage from Merhige´s film "Begotten":

An excerpt from an interview made for Mansonusa.com "Dramatic New Scenes For Celebritarian Needs", November 3rd 2005:

Q: The Internet Movie Database lists "Anti-Christ Superstar" as part of your filmography. A few names are associated with this film other than your own. E. Elias Merhige is cited as the director; Roger Michael Mayer as the Torchbearer; and Texas Terri as the Angel of Death. What was the concept or story behind this video and did anything ever transpire from the project? Why was it never released?

MM: Elias was someone I had contacted. I talked to him the day after I saw his film Begotten, which is one of the strangest and scariest films I’ve seen and I wanted him to do a video for cryptorchid and I came to Los Angeles and I did that.

He also wanted to film a video for Antichrist Superstar; but he wanted to use a lot of footage that he had already compiled, so he shot the material with me. Then he put it together with some other stuff.

He used a lot of military footage from different countries, different wars, that really went for the fascist aspect of the song and I wasn’t quite sure that it represented the criticism that it needed to, but it wasn’t ultimately my opinion that mattered because the record company was appalled by it. That’s not to say it won’t be seen, but I’m not sure if he ever had a fair chance of finishing it because of the record company. I was very pleased with cryptorchid because it’s a beautiful song and I wanted to see his imagery involved in it.

And there you have it, this material apparently was rejected by Manson´s label at the time, Interscope Records and now that the band claims to have more artistic freedom it makes sense to drop these ´bombs´.

THE CONTROVERSY

Forget about what´s in the "Antichrist Superstar" video, it´s the fact whether you should legally watch it or not.

Rumor: "Accidentally" it was posted on marilynmanson.com around June 19th 2010 and some hours later it was mysteriously removed. By that time, it was already popping up on several websites, even on You Tube.

Accidents Can Happen, Only To Marilyn Manson?

During the promotion of Year Zero, one of the latest Nine Inch Nails albums used clever strategies to make some buzz:

An entire campaign based on the ARG concept was built around the album's story and fans were bombarded in multiple ways; the world of online was used in a massive way, when the band began to 'leak' songs via USB cards left in bathrooms at their shows in Europe. Clues were printed on t-shirts, messages began to pop up online and a frenzy was created before the album was even released. (Source:  http://www.squidoo.com/trentreznor )

And what about the latest craze built around the new iPhone G4 "lost" prototype conducted by the Gizmodo Team? Another accident? Nope, an intentional premature ´leak´, which could probably affect Apple´s sales greatly.

So you decide, was the "Antichrist Superstar" video ´leak´ planned by MM himself? If that´s the case then you´re free to go, but if it´s not, then we will gladly remove all the links the video...

AlmapBBDO in Brazil Wins Cannes Press Grand Prix With A Manson Ad...

AlmapBBDO in Brazil won the Cannes Grand Prix featuring an ad campaign for Billboard Magazine, featuring pictures of famous musicians composed with pixel-like images of their influences. For example, in the case of the Marilyn Manson ad, half-tone images of Kiss band members, Cher, Ozzy Osbourne and the Cure can be noticed by zooming in.

Here is one of the winning posters:

The texting on the upper right hand corner quotes: "Music. See what it's made of."

Pretty neat, huh? By the way this image could have been taken from the "Golden Age Of Grotesque" video "This Is The New Shit". You can watch in the meantime.

For more information about this cool ad campaign visit:

http://realtimecannes.com/

PS: They should have included David Bowie.....

New Marilyn Manson and David Lynch Exhibition in Austria...

...Once a rumor, now it´s confirmed.

"Are You Sure You Will Be Comfortable?" from
the Elizabeth Short as Snow White series

Kunsthalle Wien, in Vienna, Austria proudly presents "Genealogies of Pain", an exhibition which curiously shows the work both of Marilyn Manson and film director David Lynch. And this is because Manson is a visual artist who expresses pain and agony in his watercolors for the sole purpose of self-discovery.

According to the official press release about David Lynch´s work being presented:

The exhibition also comprises short films by filmmaker David Lynch as a counterpart to and historical reference for Manson’s paintings. As suggested by their titles – “Six Men Getting Sick” (1967), “The Grandmother” (1970), and “The Amputee” (1973) – Lynch is also concerned with the reflection of pain and its aestheticization as well as the deformation and transience of the human body.

The show will be held from June 30th until July 25th 2010, it´s not yet confirmed if Manson will be attending the opening night. However this has been a very artistic year for the man, keep it up! Our hopes are still set on Mexico City. By the way, if you happen to be around Mexico, visit the Brian Eno´s exhibition "77 millions of paintings" at the Anahuacalli Museum.

More information about "Genealogies Of Pain"
http://www.kunsthallewien.at/cgi-bin/event/event.pl?id=3823&lang=en

New Status Update: Geist

I pulled out this article due to the mood under the status update: Ninja

Read here from the MTV Blog:

The death metal band leader in question is Lars, which is Manson's role. He's not just a rocker though. Lars also knows how to swing a sword! "There is a lot of samurai s--t in [the movie] too because Lars is a samurai," Lough said. "There is a lot of decapitation, a lot of arms getting chopped off, blood gushing, but in the beautiful way of a Japanese samurai film."

So does this mean that Manson is practicing his moves? We hope so:

Whenever I think of a good bloodbath this comes to mind:

Let´s hope he brings out some kind of sensei like Pai-Mei...

Or it could be also referring to an anime with the name: "MD Geist"

More information on the upcoming horror flick, "Splatter Sisters":

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2010/06/10/exclusive-splatter-sisters-writerdirector-adam-bhala-lough-on-samurai-marilyn-manson-skinemax/

NINJA DEATH METAL ROCKSTAR SOUNDS BADASS,
IS THAT A-OK?

New Status Update: Space of AIDS...

Well, apparently some people think it´s a pun for "Ace of Spades" or "Ace of Swords"; a Tarot Card, by the way, of the Minor Arcana.

In general it would stand for Justice, success, conquest, leadership, triumph. But since the letters are inverted, then the meaning would be inverted as well, as in abuse of power, vengeance, punishment, hatred, affliction, anger, multiple obstacles...

Anyway, who cares? Boredom makes you do stupid things. By the way there is a song from MM named "Spade", from the album "The Golden Age Of Grotesque".

Ecuadorian Newspaper Names Marilyn Manson "One Of The Best Lead Singers Of All Time."

Well, we never thought they´d honor Manson in such a neat way...

Click here for more information:

http://www.eltiempo.com.ec/noticias-cuenca/43419-marilyn-manson-el-mejor-de-todos-los-tiempos/

The translation below:


The eccentric Marilyn Manson, best of all time. Marilyn Manson has won a seat in the industrial metal music, he is considered the best multifaceted vocalist of all time.Marilyn Manson achieved public acceptance with Portrait of an American Family.

Bio


Marilyn Manson, the only son of Barb Wyer and Hugh Warner, who was Catholic and Barb who suffered from attacks of paranoia believer of Episcopalian religion, is a composer, singer, actor, writer, painter and film director, known for its controversial personality and image as a vocalist and leader of the industrial metal band Marilyn Manson.


His stage name is formed from the names of actress Marilyn Monroe and murderer Charles Manson.

Background

 In 1989, Marilyn formed the band Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids and then cut with Marilyn Manson.

The artist not only was part of The Spooky Kids, but also participated in several side projects like Satan on Fire, a fake Christian metal band where he played bass and drums in Mrs. Scabtree a band formed in collaboration Jeordie and his girlfriend Jessica , lead singer of the band Jack Off Jill.

The band's first album called Portrait of an American Family, won gold album in the U.S., with a larger number of sales that topped 500,000 copies sold. With this album the band managed to get his own fan club, which grew with his first remix album called Smells Like Children in 1995, which was certified platinum, for over a million copies sold, managed to also appear in the programming videos on MTV with her first hit called Sweet Dreams. The success continued with the album Antichrist Superstar.
Manson is also the producer of most of the band's albums.

Happy 38 Twiggy!

Yup, it´s Jeordie´s Day all day long. So I thought of pulling out other material from his non-Manson eras.

 Here is song back when he was in A Perfect Circle, on the album "Thirteenth Step". It´s called "Crimes".

There´s this other song from the movie "Rockstar", written by Twiggy Ramirez. The track name: "(Gimme) Blood Pollution"

And this another video back when he briefly participated in Nine Inch Nails, "The Hand That Feeds".

PARTY ON!!!!

"Antichrist Superstar" Video Unveiled

Ah, this is a rarity, told you 6/19 would bring good luck.

Anyway, this is an exclusive Marilyn Manson video you´re not supposed to watch. It´s "Antichrist Superstar" made back in 1996. It has never been released in any media, however rumor has it the video was downloaded from the official website http://www.marilynmanson.com/. Sadly, you can´t see it there or on You Tube...

The good news is a friend of mine uploaded so you can enjoy in the comfort of your own computer.

Don´t want to give out any spoilers but its visual technique is reminiscent of "Cryptorchid", which looks more like a highly surreal short film, probably influenced by Luis Buñuel.

You can download "Antichrist Superstar" using this link:

It lasts about 5:42. It does contain some footage later used in this other video...



As far as we´re concerned this (Antichrist Superstar) could be a teaser or viral video to anticipate the release of the new album, or probably a DVD or Blu-ray compilation, just like in Lest We Forget.

New Status Update: Fait Divers

By fait divers Manson could be referring to a French word or slang that means "brief news stories". This is related to yesterday´s post about the current art exhibition called "The Alchemy Of Things Unknown" which is being currently held in LA. He also posted a picture of the painting that´s on display named "When I Get Old".

The image is said to have been inspired by William Burroughs, and according to Manson is an example of what he would look like as an older man. He also holds a cup which presumably containing absinthe. Later on, the same image was used for commercial purposes for Manson´s label of the liquor, Mansinthe.

For more details visit the gallery´s website: http://www.khastoo.com/

"Currently in my hood"...

"When I Get Old" by MM.

"The Alchemy Of Things Unknown" New Art Exhibition Featuring MM and others...

"Everyone Has A Blue Period" by MM,  circa 2010.

"The Alchemy Of Things Unknown" (and a visual meditation on transformation)" is the name of a current art exhibition featuring the visual works of Marilyn Manson and other great artists, poets and philosophers of the 20th century; it examines individual works of art in relation to theosophy, sacred traditions and devotional practice.

Artists include Paul Laffoley, Harry Smith, Marjorie Cameron, Willian Blake, Austin Ossman Spare, Scoli Acosta, Kenneth Anger, Aleister Crowley, Zach Harris, Susan Hiller, Alfred Jenson, Angus MacLise, JFC Fuller, and Marilyn Manson. Not sure which MM paintings will be shown.

It´s scheduled since June 10th 2010 until July 31st at Khastoo Gallery in los Angeles, so if you have the chance stop by this weekend!

For more details, please visit: http://www.khastoo.com/

The Horrible People...

WOW! Haven´t heard this one in a while, from "Remix and Repent", the Horrible People, a ´remix´of "The Beautiful People!" Enjoy...

The Nobodies (acoustic version)

Part of this version was featured as background music for Michael Moore´s documentary "Bowling For Columbine" during the narration of the Columbine murders. Enjoy!

MM Sing-A-Long! Eat, Me, Drink Me...

Enjoy singing this by yourself or with your friends: EAT ME, DRINK ME, instrumental, the last track of the album by the same name from MM.

The High End of Low One Year Later...

2009, the sound of it still gives the chills. Indeed it was an incredibly disastrous year for most of us because it represented on a personal level and specially to Manson one simple word: Loss.

"everyone will come, everyone will come, to my funeral to make sure that I stay dead"

 (Four Rusted Horses,2010)

Did you realize how many times The High End of Low used the words "death" and "loss"? You´d be surprised, enough to make you think that finally everything that made the music and the art of Manson had fallen into a void, a bottomless pit. And because of this a mysterious aura might have infected many of you fans with gruesome thoughts,  and yes, Death became even scarier than the Devil.

So let´s start off  by analyzing in this blog with one of The High End of Low´s "fatal attractions"; "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon":

"death to the ladies first, then the gentlemen all sorts of tax-free-face-lift-abortions-nervous-breakdance
satanic girls gone wild, truly fucking suicidal."

Death is also about decadence, something that ends and siezes to inspire. Manson has taken influences from many decadent art movements, like the era of Weimar Berlin and reprised with amazing results in "The Golden Age of Grotesque". Coincidentally in the music video of  "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon" some girls with picket signs have a Blackface very similar to the one Manson wore in 2003.

"fuck, eat, kill, now do it again, it's arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon, fuck, eat, kill, etc."

The song has very subtle implications that women and men literally devour each other as if they were some sort of black widow. The song "Wight Spider" seems to be more specific. Compared to the analogies to vampirism in "Eat Me, Drink Me" we see yet another level of consumption, whether it´s psychological, physical and emotional.

There is an urban term called  psychic vampires which refers in general to the emotional drain of of a victim.

"i wish i was still dead, but the tv said, it´s just a "tropical depression."

A pun is used to define depression, a popular resource in many of Manson´s songs. It´s been known also that the rain does have a certain effect of bringing people down or getting "the blues".

 

"is it the news? or is it the noose?, results may vary, side effects are very, arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon"

Manson´s decadence extends to the influence of the media, a subject he covered a while later on the interview made by Michael Moore:
 

"Because that's not the way the media wants to take it and spin it and turn it in to fear. Because then you're watching television, you're watching the news, you're being pumped full of fear."

(MM, Bowling for Columbine, 2002)
 
 
IN HIS OWN WORDS:
 
In reference to being asked about the song title , "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon":
 

"Oh, I think it is completely unshocking and completely intentionally redundant and that was the whole point of it. I really go out of my way to make that fit into the record. In the context of the record, it refers to something I said that day going to the studio. It was my commentary on how shameless and hopeless and uninteresting things are now. When you have to put ‘goddamn’ and ‘motherfucking’ into a title that already has ‘Armageddon’ in it... you know! I was just making a point. Anyway, I didn’t write it - the Bible wrote it - I just added a couple of new words to it..."

(Interview for The Stool Pigeon Music Newspaper, 06/2009)

THE VIDEO

Many of the visual aspects for the video of "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon" are inspired by the movies of Jodorowksy. Two of them are "El Topo" and "The Holy Mountain".

Other aspects are basically ideas like the use of the podium, commonly seen among Manson´s stage props since "Antichrist Superstar". This time the "shock " logo was replaced with the dollar sign, and in other promotional media a version of two crossed dollar signs emulated a swastika or triskele.

The drums played in the video resemble the iones used during "The Golden Age of Grotesque" era, as well as the girls in U.S. flag patterned bikins complete with Blackface. This turns out to be more of a parody or mockery of Manson´s previous eras.

According to legend,

Manson also claimed that the song was inspired by an instance where he was driving to the studio and witnessed a 'ruckus' with the police, and that it has a very intentional "Adam Ant/Gary Glitter throwback vibe." (Noisecreep. May 20, 2010)

WATCH  "Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon":

The High End of Low has to be one of the most lyrically complex albums from Marilyn Manson´s productions so far. Because Death and decadence, loss and loneliness have many interpretations, so does this record. Enjoy the video!

New Status Update: All Work and No Plays...

Is that so? All work and no play make Manson a dull boy? I wonder what this phrase would look like splattered througout lots of pages, like in "The Shining"...

A Visual Deconstruction Of "The Dope Show"

And who doesn 't remember Marilyn Manson's  most androgynous era back when Mechanical Animals came out?

Yes, it was mind-boggling and it really brought back that ultra glam Bowie-esque vibe. The look in Mechanical Animals went quite well with the times due that we were almost at the end of the millenium, but it's no secret either that most of Marilyn Manson's albums have always had an apocalyptic feel, never to be taken literally though.

On this ocassion we make a visual analysis of the first single and video, "The Dope Show"; why? For many reasons, one of them because it was really fun to watch.

So let's start off with one of the first scenes in which Manson lands on 'Earth' as a white androgynous white alien, Omega which is captured and taken into a building that's kind of familiar. Now you might think that it was the Power Rangers base...um, no, the truth is that this building is known as the Brandeis Bardin Institute located in Simi Valley, California. It´s now the Brandeis-Bardin Campus of American Jewish University, a Jewish retreat. It is known for its nondenominational summer programs for children, teens and young adults.

"The Dope Show´s" futuristic laboratory...

The House of the Book building at the Brandeis-Bardin Institute

They say that many inspiration for this video was taken from David Bowie's 1976 film named "The Man Who Fell To Earth", a British science fiction film directed by Nicolas Roeg, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis, about an extraterrestrial who crash lands on Earth seeking a way to ship water to his planet, which is suffering from a severe drought.

As you can see in this scene Manson is taken studied to be studied, and you can clearly see his ambiguous fisonomy. This reminds us of another one of the scenes from the "The Man Who Fell To Earth".

MM taken in to be studied...

David Bowie as  Thomas Jerome Newton.

Another aspect that caught our attention was the use of these futuristic sculptures or devices around Manson's body, both of which are supposed to have a function. The first one is these series of red plugs which mimic wiring and circuits. The piece was actually known as "Overflowing Blood Machine" by Rebecca Horn, a German installation artist most famous for her body modifications such as Einhorn (Unicorn), a body-suit with a very large horn projecting vertically from the headpiece, and Pencil Mask, a mesh harness for the head with many pencils projecting out. In May-August, 2005 the Hayward Gallery in London held a Rebecca Horn retrospective.

"Overflowing Blood Machine" was a visual performance, orginally with a male strapped to a series of red tubes, simulating his circulation system and reducing him to nothing but a machine which keeps pumping blood. This is not the first time Manson has used this resource. In the cover art for "Antichrist Superstar" a similar series of tubes were tied to his genitals.

"Overflowing Blood Machine" , recreated for "The Dope Show", by Rebecca Horn.

The original suit by Rebecca Horn, Überströmer, New York 1993

Starting from the song title, "The Dope Show" mocks many of the aspects that make Hollywood so decadent. In the limo sequence where Omega is to be transformed into a rockstar he meets a producer briefly played by Billy Zane, who was worked with Manson several times. Part of the tabloid magazines he's holding resemble the National Enquirer and Spin. This last part could be about an incident which took place back in November 1998, where Spin editor Craig Marks was assaulted by Manson's bodyguards. Ironically, the video was shot in August of the same year...

Cameo by actor Billy Zane, showing parodies of the National Enquirer and Spin magazines.

Next, another interesting Rebecca Horn's sculpture dubbed "Cornucopia" which a molded plastic device set in place with a strap on the forehead that simulates a self-nurturing effect. The piece was conceived back in 1970; the one Omega wears is a more modernized version.

MM, showing a modern version of Rebecca Horn´s Cornucopia.

Rebecca Horn, Cornucopia, 1970

Among the real-life locations that were used in the shooting of "The Dope Show" is the Municipal Traffic Court Building, located in Downtown Los Angeles, with a style known as Brutalist architecture. This was shown in the Omega and the Mechanical Animals ficticious performance, shot while the band was placed on top of the trailer of an 18-wheeler transport truck.

Omega and the Mechanical Animal's performance...

The actual place: Municipal Traffic Court Building 1970 by architect William Allen

Many of the costumes were conceived by Manson along with designer Terri King, who has worked for several artists like Ozzy Osbourne and Iggy Pop. She also designed the transparent feathered suit seen on the "Rock Is Dead" video.

Another outfit designed by Terri King Clothing

In another sequence we see Omega smashing his clonesor copies enraged by what he sees. This evokes Alejandro Jodorowsky´s film from 1973 "The Holy Mountain", but in his case he destroys several mannequins of Jesus. This aspect is incredibly symbolic because Manson has made it very clear by saying that a holy figure or an idol has become a figure of massive consumption:

"People are made to feel so guilty about having human feelings, but then they´re supposed to pray to this phallic symbol with a half-naked rockstar on it." (Revolver Magazine, Winter 2000)

Scene from Alejandro Jodorowsky´s "The Holy Mountain"

The last sequence features a transvestite dancer commonly known as The Goddess Bunny. It´s actually a boy whose real name is Johnnie Baima. He also appears in some deleted scenes from this video in the VHS edition of "God Is In the TV" where he and the other band members are in the back of the limousine.

Johnnie Baima , aka The Goddess Bunny.

So what else can we highlight about "The Dope Show" that hasn´t been said before. The live performance in the 1998 MTV VMA´s included huge signs with keywords like "DOPE SHOW" emphasizing the whole concept about drugs and fame...

"there´s lots of pretty, pretty ones that wanna get you high, but all the pretty, pretty ones will leave you low and blow your mind..."

These lyrics are similar in nature to "Heart-Shaped Glasses":

"that blue is getting me high, making me low..."

As well as "I Have To Look Up Just To See Hell":

"...we reached the high end of low..."

and most recently with the title of the painting "Everyone Has A Blue Period"; a possible analogy for "the low" or deep sadness, depression or a state of calmness or feeling numb.

One of Pink Floyd´s "The Wall" most famous track, "Comfortably Numb" clearly expresses what it´s like to live in a period where there´s absolutely no pain, but it´s also a of limbo which is similar to the concept behind the ficticious character of Coma White. So once again "The Dope Show" symbolizes a futuristic world deprived of feelings, emotions and replaced by artificial thrills.

This, in the end turns out to be a timeless phenomenon covered in the past centuries with the rising of art movements such as Expressionism, and Futurism. It also reminds us very much of the Fritz Lang movie "Metropolis" in which the female character Maria is replaced with a sinister robotic version of her.

The robotic "Maria"; compare to "The Dope Show´s" still of Manson with
the "Overflowing Blood Machine" costume.

So please enjoy watching this visually stunning video directed by Paul Hunter. Have a great weekend!

New Pic: Beholdaroid!

Do they still make these Polaroids? Must be some kind of fetish to keep them or maybe it´s just a high-tech phobia.

Anyway, we also wanted to bring you these awesome news. It looks like the project of Season 2 "Celebrity Ghost Stories" with guest star Marilyn Manson is good to go. It'll be airing on Saturdays at 9pm on Biography channel. (160 ch/ cable vision)

The first episode will air on July 17, 2010.

More details at: http://blogs.myspace.com/leohomecrest

and here: http://www.biography.com/video.do?name=celebrityghoststories

Leo is set to play a younger version of Marilyn Manson, looking forward to it!

Great Influences: The Art of Marilyn Manson and Francesco Clemente

This week we do a time warp back to 1998, when Manson´s paintings started to become notorious and Mechanical Animals saw the light.

Around the same time the movie "Great Expectations" with stars Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow came out and while watching it again I couldn´t help noticing the beautiful watercolors and charcoals that where displayed for the character of Finnegan Bell.

 They were actually made specially for the film by Italian painter Francesco Clemente.He has also been quoted as one of Marilyn Manson´s influences according to Ilse Murdock, from the Parsons School of Design.

 But I´ll leave you with these comparisons as an exercise to see how much Manson has been inspired by the artist. One thing they have in common is their passion for Surrealism and Expressionism.

Guardians, by Francesco Clemente.

And Now a Special Sort of Death for One So Fair by MM.

Virgine, Francesco Clemente, 1995.

Pretty Persuasion, by MM.

Fire,Francesco Clemente, 1982.

Baby´s On Fire, by MM.

Self portrait With And Without The Mask, Francesco Clemente,2005

Sometimes I Squeeze Things Too Hard, by MM.