Mar 7, 2013

Exotica suite

I found this vinyl record in the local Lions op shop, and was terribly amused by the piece of hessian stuck to its jacket. I imagined someone had found the image underneath too racey, became ovewhelmed by exotic possibilities, then felt compelled to cover it up - a modesty panel, if you like! I have since googled this record, and to my surprise, ALL the record covers had this odd hessian rectangle stuck to it! Um....why? Am I missing some conceptual design master stroke? Maybe the jacket sans hessian didn't get past the censorship board, so this was a solution? So despite the cover not being uniquely modified as I first thought, I am still tempted to enlist the services of a paper conservator, who could prove or disprove my theory. Otherwise somebody needs to enlighten me as to how the addition of hessian relates to this record. Don't get me wrong, I love collage and texture, it's just that it seems a little kooky in this case. (Not that there's anything wrong with that!) Compositionally it works, maybe that's all that matters. As you were!
[Cover design; Francis & Monahan, Inc.]