Yesterday Jezebel linked to a story about how artist Max Papeschi's poster featuring a naked woman wearing a Mickey Mouse head posing provocatively below a swastika is not going over so well in Poland, perhaps partially because the poster is located near a synagogue.
OK, so we all hate the swastika (I'm sorry if this controversial point of view is a turnoff for you) but I'm somewhat amused by how inflammatory the artist is purposefully being. Haven't we all seen shock art already? I'm rather disappointed that he kept it as restrained as he did.
It's not that I don't think shock art isn't sometimes thought-provoking and worthwhile but I just think the old NaziSexyMouse isn't showing us anything we haven't seen before. I mean I can do better than this. Toss menstrual blood on the poster and proclaim that it stands for the blood of the innocent/guilty (see, it works for everyone).
Make it a bloody tampon and it stands for women's rights, or perhaps how women's "rights" are trampling over anyone else's.
Throw in a dead fetus. What does that stand for exactly? Do you even want to know? Probably not, but it's definitely deep.
Don't forget some poo, too. If you want to mold it into some sort of Bible-based character, then that will be good. You can say that it represents the shit Christianity has brought upon the world, or, conversely, that everything that's not Christian is shit.
What if we splashed the whole thing with urine? Check this out: the more the poster starts to reek, the more you can claim the poster stands for something, the atrocities of America, or acid rain if you like.
If I'm feeling fancy I might even tack on a few dead animal pelts or dead chicken, either to raise the blessing/ire of PETA. Plus, maybe two gay guys kissing as they wear crowns of thorns and cry blood. Does it mean they're going to hell? Or does it mean they're the next (two, gay) Jesuses? Leave it open to interpretation.
Now once you've created your stock shock art, all you need to do is ask people if they get it. (Note: They have to say yes because if you don't, they'll look like idiots.) Ka-ching!