The Null Device

Pictures from the Neverland auction

A guy named Paul Scheer went to the exhibition of Michael Jackson's possessions, which were due to be auctioned, with a camera and took some photos. These have been posted here. It is a grotesquely unique collection, and one betraying the peculiar obsessions of one such as Jackson. There are plenty of portraits of Jackson in fantasy mediæval finery and heroic poses, or presented as various historical figures:
And then there's "Michael Jackson Unites the Children Of The World", a tableau of a messianic Jackson, like a business-casual Christ, or perhaps a modern Pied Piper, leading a procession of children through an idyllic meadow, apparently somewhere in Switzerland.
The totality of the image is disturbing enough, with its echoes of religious cultism and totalitarian poster art; the details, though, take the creepiness to new levels:
And there's more; brass statues of small children at play, objects inscribed with Jackson's doggerel, airbrush art of Jackson as Disney's Peter Pan, and who can forget the life-sized little ginger girl dolls, just far enough inside Mori's Uncanny Valley to give you nightmares.

There are 3 comments on "Pictures from the Neverland auction":

Posted by: Greg Tue Apr 28 07:48:03 2009

It looks like they got the illustrator from the Watchtower to paint these (examples: http://www.watchtower.org/e/publications/index.htm) .. shades of Ed Roth doing the cover of Junkyard. Why didn't they shred these instead of flogging them at the closing-down sale??

Posted by: Alexander http://www.therandomnumber.wordpress.com Tue Apr 28 21:58:33 2009

Firstly, I'd be amazed if anyone bought the pictures, since that would imply spending lots of dosh to have a picture of Whacko Jacko massaging his own massive ego. And secondly, were it not for Jackson's rep as a possible paedophile, these portraits would be simply laughable more than anything else, akin to bling-obsessed rappers who do exactly the same sort of thing.

Posted by: acb http://dev.null.org/acb/ Wed Apr 29 08:34:19 2009

I imagine there's a hipster bar somewhere which would benefit from a portrait of Michael Jackson in mediaeval finery, perhaps placing it next to a stuffed bear in a funny hat or a hagiographic painting of Kim Il Sung or something.

Or perhaps whoever buys the painting could make a mint by printing reproductions and selling them to kitsch collectors and ironists. They'd be like velvet Elvis paintings only one level further.