Nothing can stop them!
2018
(nothing can stop them;
around every river and canal
their power is growing)
(we must destroy them;
they infiltrate each city
with their thick dark warning odor)
(they seem immune to all our
herbicidal battering)
(a Victorian explorer found
the regal Hogweed by a marsh;
he captured it and brought it home)
SEEKING REVENGE
(royal beast did not forget)
(and made a present of the Hogweed
to the Royal Gardens at Kew)
(they are approaching;
hurry now, we must protect ourselves
and find some shelter)
(they are defenseless;
they all need the sun
to photosensitize their venom)
(had some cultivated wild gardens;
in which they innocently planted
the Giant Hogweed
throughout the land)
SPREADING THEIR SEED
(preparing for an onslaught;
threatening the human race)
(Human bodies
soon will know our anger!
Kill them with your
Hogweed hairs!
Heracleum Mantegazziani)
All collages in this album measure 12.7 x 10 cm, and are made of National Geographic photos by B. Anthony Scott and ©1950 NGS; reproductions of paintings by English masters (Arthur Devis, Francis Hayman, William Hogarth, Allan Ramsay, and Paul Sandby) from a book of English painters; croquet imagery and text from the Skowhegan Croquet Rule Book, published by Forster Mfg. Co., Inc., of Wilton, Maine, in 1974; photographic images from Lands & Peoples, Vol. II, ©1929, 1930 The Grolier Society; and inkjet printed images of Heracleum mantegazzianum (The Giant Hogweed) downloaded from the internet in 2018, with acid free adhesive on rag mat board, and Liquitex Gloss Varnish finish.
The album was inspired by paging through the April 1950 issue of National Geographic, and coming across a photo-documentary of the Royal Gardens at Kew, which brought to mind a melody with a dire warning.
The titles are the lyrics from The Return of the Giant Hogweed, written by Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, and Mike Rutherford (Genesis), published in 1971. The copyright is assumed to belong to them. No intention here to claim ownership of any copyrighted material. This suite of collages is merely an homage and interpretation, paying respect to the heroes of the soundtrack of my youth, and one of my favorite record albums, Nursery Cryme, by Genesis, which I discovered in 1983 at age 14, while immersing my teenage self in the entire Genesis catalog on vinyl, with Koss headphones.
Original Collages Available
Framed in oiled and waxed cherry wood, with linen mats and eight Job’s Tears beads included in each frame, individually, or, preferably, as a complete set. Contact Michael Koppa to request photographs and discuss pricing.