Ariel Stinks (50 Alternative Album Covers to Thrash and Burn), TAEX

About

Sixteen years ago, American musician Ariel Pink took a photo of artist Jill Miller and featured the portrait on the cover of his Thrash and Burn album with ‘Ariel Stinks’ scrawled across her forehead, without asking her permission. This fact is certainly a violation of law, but the precedent speaks for more. For many decades creative industries have used the bodies and faces of women, not always illegally, as in our case, but as a cheap and insignificant resource. The NFT drop by Jill Miller is a strong and witty act of resistance, performed by her in collaboration with artificial intelligence. 50 Alternative Covers to Thrash and Burn is a continuation of the Ariel Stinks line, which was started by the musician himself. In these fifty humorous works, Pink is associated with literal stinky objects: bacteria breeding, a pet skunk, and a public bathroom. In stark contrast to the way women are commodified in the music industry, Ariel's face is rendered bloated and misshapen, giving a powerful critique of the capitalist music industry. In addition, the conflict between Miller and Pink is also the same conflict between two generations of media production. The drop is scheduled for January 2023, two years after Trump's supporters attacked the US capitol. Pink, who participated in the ”Stop the Steal” rally, is known for his notorious connection with Fox News. While he represents the old patriarchal media, Jill Miller uses new media and tools that hopefully reserve more room for women's creativity.