Slog - Comments on What's the Scariest Work of Art Ever? http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever What Schmader posted this morning—Rolling Stone's investigation into how the GOP has already stolen the election—has me even more scared about this election than I was before. In the name of Scared, then, I am inaugurating a contest for scariest work of art. They're hard to think of, actually—you've got "The Scream" and maybe some Balthus but otherwise I mostly draw a blank. What is a work of art that actually scared you when you saw it?? Here's my top pick: Bruce Nauman's Pulling Mouth video from 1969, in which he pulls on his mouth and flashes his teeth in... Copyright 2008 Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:43:21 -0800 Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:39:06 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by David Schmader Eminem's "Kim."

]]> David Schmader http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177591 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177591 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:45:31 -0800 Comment by CWM EMP FTW!

]]> CWM http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177593 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177593 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:46:13 -0800 Comment by levide Charles Ray's "Family Romance"

]]> levide http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177594 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177594 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:48:42 -0800 Comment by Explorer "Aqualung" by Jethro Tull used to scare the crap outta me!

]]> Explorer http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177598 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177598 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:52:09 -0800 Comment by Scaredy Lindy West's eye.

]]> Scaredy http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177599 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177599 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:52:53 -0800 Comment by Ariel "Saturn devouring his son" by Goya.

]]> Ariel http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177600 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177600 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:54:26 -0800 Comment by Jeffrey in Chicago What about Albright?

]]> Jeffrey in Chicago http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177603 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177603 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:55:08 -0800 Comment by Betsy Ross Salvador Dali did a bunch of scary stuff. "Baby Map of the World" is just one example.

]]> Betsy Ross http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177606 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177606 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:55:48 -0800 Comment by bronkitis I am terrified of the Frederick Church painting of Niagara Falls where you're really close and you can't see any land. It makes me feel like I'm in a ferris wheel stuck over it, and I kind of start to hyperventilate just thinking about it.

]]> bronkitis http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177607 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177607 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:56:08 -0800 Comment by losboats Francis Bacon's "Figure with Meat"

http://sonnywilkins.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/figure-meat.jpg

]]> losboats http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177608 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177608 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:58:57 -0800 Comment by John Bailo
Bosch is an obvious addition.

Also, some Paik installations creep me out.

]]> John Bailo http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177609 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177609 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:58:59 -0800 Comment by David B. It's not art, but you want scary? Read this clear, dry, prescient elucidation of the coming economic apocalypse:

http://harpers.org/archive/2008/10/hbc-90003696

]]> David B. http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177611 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177611 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:59:04 -0800 Comment by Levislade Toss up between J-P Witkin and Weegee, although I don't have specific pieces for either.

Of course, if you allow for film, then that opens a lot of doors, and I guess makes the question less interesting. If we're keeping it to "art films," maybe Eraserhead?

Oh, wait, no . . . I forgot about that sculpture of Britney Spears giving birth. There we go.

]]> Levislade http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177614 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177614 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:59:56 -0800 Comment by S-Lo The eyeball-razor scene in Un chien Andalou by Luis Buñuel. That shit still turns my stomach thinking about it.

]]> S-Lo http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177619 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177619 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:02:53 -0800 Comment by sam http://www.palinaspresident.us/

]]> sam http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177620 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177620 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:03:14 -0800 Comment by mike Goya's "Saturn Devouring his Children" didn't exactly scare me on first looking at it, but since then, the giant figure looming over the horizon, blood, smeared on hands and mouth, has been a recurrent figure in my nightmares. For like twenty years now, maybe more.

]]> mike http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177625 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177625 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:07:23 -0800 Comment by Ariel @16. Oh yeah. And that wild, urgent, disconnected look in Saturn's wide eyes. Shudder.

]]> Ariel http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177630 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177630 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:09:31 -0800 Comment by Ariel I got most of my sex education from Hieronymus Bosch.

]]> Ariel http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177633 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177633 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:10:56 -0800 Comment by donna Image Google: Joel Peter Witkin. His photographs are beautiful but give me nightmares.

]]> donna http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177635 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177635 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:11:09 -0800 Comment by inkweary The greatest art-related alarm I have felt as an adult was the draping of statues, "The Spirit of Justice" and "The Majesty of Law" in the lobby of the Dept. of Justice. Supposedly John Ashcroft didn't like being seen in proximity with half-nudes, while in reality he couldn't face the embodiment of our judicial system while desecrating it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1788845.stm

]]> inkweary http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177636 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177636 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:11:25 -0800 Comment by paulus http://dr-blog.asiandrug.jp/archives/Slayer-ReignInBlood.jpg

]]> paulus http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177638 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177638 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:12:42 -0800 Comment by ben I've always been both somewhat terrified by and slightly enamored with Gericault's Raft of the Medusa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raft_of_the_Medusa

]]> ben http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177640 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177640 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:13:40 -0800 Comment by Afreet Most Aphex Twin videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Az_7U0-cK0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tatccHVfuhA

]]> Afreet http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177644 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177644 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:16:56 -0800 Comment by Joe M That Which I Should Have Done I Did Not Do (The Door) by Ivan Albright.

Runner up: Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz.

]]> Joe M http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177647 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177647 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:18:42 -0800 Comment by Amy some of peter joel witkin's photgraphs are pretty scary
but i'm in love with them nonetheless

i was going to add a link to an example, but 2 images of nudey shemales came up (these are not the scary ones i was referencing)and i'm at work. Whooooops

]]> Amy http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177648 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177648 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:21:01 -0800 Comment by erik velvet water

]]> erik http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177653 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177653 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:24:42 -0800 Comment by Bees David Firth's "Hell"

http://www.fat-pie.com/hell.htm

]]> Bees http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177658 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177658 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:30:30 -0800 Comment by zan e doesnt reaaly count, but i once had a dream after a day at the moma that i encountered a giant glass cube in an unspecified museum. it was filled with rays of light from several sun roofs above it, and for some reason i was completely terrified.

other than that i'll have to go with balthus and the ed kienholz installation "still live"

]]> zan e http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177662 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177662 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:32:31 -0800 Comment by catnextdoor Hands down: anything by Thomas Kinkade. Especially his post 9/11 crap.

]]> catnextdoor http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177665 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177665 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:34:18 -0800 Comment by Steven Miller Francis Bacon really got me as a young man and this piece in particular:
http://www.artquotes.net/masters/bacon/paint_study.htm

]]> Steven Miller http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177667 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177667 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:37:45 -0800 Comment by Abe Cafe Flesh

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083707/

]]> Abe http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177669 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177669 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:38:46 -0800 Comment by Fnarf Kincade's got a new series of NASCAR paintings. I saw them advertised on TV the other day. His work is terrifying, but these were beyond belief. I had to watch from behind the sofa.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177670 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177670 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:39:09 -0800 Comment by Betty X Jen I just watched that video by Bruce last night.

Joel Peter Witkins Mother and Child.
Otto Dix's etchings from the war.
The razor slicing the eyeball in Un Chein Andalou is pretty powerful as well.

]]> Betty X http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177675 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177675 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:40:54 -0800 Comment by CQ Anything by Francis Bacon is terrifying. Also, The Nightmare by John Henry Fuselli is pretty scary.

]]> CQ http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177676 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177676 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:40:55 -0800 Comment by ray I remember going to the wax museum in Victoria as a kid, and being mega scared by the chamber of horrors. Especially the guy with the meat hook through his pelvis. Does that count as art?

]]> ray http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177677 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177677 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:41:01 -0800 Comment by Cookie W. Monster Speaking of bacon...

]]> Cookie W. Monster http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177687 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177687 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:50:19 -0800 Comment by iamkatia
Just about anything by Joel Peter Witkins.

]]> iamkatia http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177688 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177688 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:50:36 -0800 Comment by stella hands down, vermin death star. ick.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39068000/jpg/_39068657_dsc0003.jpg

]]> stella http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177690 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177690 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:52:45 -0800 Comment by Grant Cogswell The 'who's in the basement' scene from Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road'.

]]> Grant Cogswell http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177708 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177708 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:09:50 -0800 Comment by beatgrl I saw Bruegel's Dulle Griet (Mad Meg) when I was in Antwerp and I was so freaked being alone in a room with it that I bought the poster so I could look at it later. Eighteen years later it is still under my bed.

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/B/bruegel/mad_meg.jpg.html

]]> beatgrl http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177712 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177712 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:11:06 -0800 Comment by Ken Bruce Nauman's Clown Torture video installation piece. First you've got the creepy clowns in distress (esp. one in a restroom stall), then you've got a clown going insane by saying this over and over: "Pete and Repeat were sitting on a fence. Pete fell off; who was left? Repeat. Pete and Repeat were sitting on a fence..."
Language itself can make you crazy if you don't watch out...

]]> Ken http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177724 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177724 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:23:41 -0800 Comment by AB Anything Francis Bacon

]]> AB http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177728 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177728 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:26:10 -0800 Comment by fARTing "the Visitation". Sculpture I saw about 9 years ago in the outdoor sculpture gallery of either the National Gallery of Art or the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Hands down when it comes to visual art.

]]> fARTing http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177800 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177800 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:22:06 -0800 Comment by Bub "Phil" by Chuck Close.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2005/04/22/arts/glass.2.184.1.450.jpg

]]> Bub http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177810 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177810 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:36:00 -0800 Comment by Jubilation T. Cornball Ivan Albright -- Into the World There Came a Soul Called Ida

I freaked my shit when I saw that at the Art Institute of Chicago...

]]> Jubilation T. Cornball http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177824 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177824 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:55:42 -0800 Comment by Gurldoggie I saw a show of Jake and Dinos Chapman's work that was so compelling, yet so nasty and violent, that it made me ill. The coup de grace was the sculpture "Insult to Injury" that featured three lifesized dismembered corpses in perfect detail, hanging from a tree, in a heightened state of decay, covered with snakes, rats and maggots. I thought I was going to lose it. I had to leave the museum and sit still for an hour just to get my balance back. Powerful stuff and absolutely horrifying.

]]> Gurldoggie http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177829 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177829 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:01:58 -0800 Comment by Gurldoggie In second place, anything by Billy Joel.

]]> Gurldoggie http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177830 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177830 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:03:37 -0800 Comment by max solomon Gimme Shelter makes me very scurred.

]]> max solomon http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177846 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177846 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:27:11 -0800 Comment by cineaste check out roy lichtenstein's "la sortie", creepy in a david lynchian cartoonish way.

but closer to the visceral, scary factor are any of a number of works by local surrealist rick simpson whose computer-generated pieces can be found at altkunst.com.

]]> cineaste http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177851 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177851 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:29:52 -0800 Comment by grace odd nerdrum's painting of a woman taking a shit.

]]> grace http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177977 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1177977 Visual Art Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:06:37 -0800 Comment by scared for life the razor cuts eye scene in the salvador dali-bunuel movie, 80 years old and still way more scary than SAW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAiIUdWk1Ng

]]> scared for life http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1178078 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1178078 Visual Art Sat, 18 Oct 2008 02:27:49 -0800 Comment by Betsey James Lee Byars, The Ghost of James Lee Byars.
So scary I had to hold my breath and run through fast.

]]> Betsey http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1180147 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/10/whats_the_scariest_work_of_art_ever#c1180147 Visual Art Tue, 21 Oct 2008 16:39:06 -0800