The Album Art of U.S. Presidents
Finally someone has come out with a book of doodles by American Presidents. Sasha Archibald, Sina Najafi, Paul Collins, and Jeffrey Greenberg have put together Presidential Doodles: Two Centuries of Scratches, Squiggles and Scrawls From the Oval Office.
Most are pretty boring, like FDR's utilitarian battleship sketch.
Richard Nixon's post-Warhol Op-Art brain-teaser, on the other hand, looks like something I scrawled on the brown paper cover of my middle-school Spanish text book in 1978.
But WAIT A MINUTE! What the fuck is up with Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893) and his freaky jack-o-lantern-head-contemplating-sacred-desert-bird doodle? If that's not a 'shroom-fueled Meat Puppets album cover, I'm a mindless idiot on the lake of fire.
Also, have a look-see at Warren G. Harding's modernist Manhattan skyscape as backdrop for hand-with-apparently-amputated fingers. Creepy anticipation of the crash of '29 you say? I'm thinking Joe Jackson live album circa 1985. Maybe Greg Kihn band.
Harrison's doodle reminds me of Tortoise's TNT album cover
Posted by: Chris Barrus | September 22, 2006 at 07:55 PM
yea, totally.
Posted by: Andrew | September 23, 2006 at 12:45 AM
I'd love to see the doodle by JFK that is reported to be a box containing:
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9-11
Conspiracy
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I just have to see it.
Posted by: Jake | September 23, 2006 at 01:35 AM
Hardings sketch prefaces Ben Shahns work by a good two decades (ok, without the digitless arm)!
http://www.artnet.com/artwork/424609782/ben-shahn-old-new-synagogue-prague.html
Posted by: Dale Hazelton | September 23, 2006 at 06:35 AM
Both Benjamin Harrison ones are actually drawings that result from a cute story you tell with kids. I don't remember the second one, but the first one can be found in a "Little House on the Prairie" book. He probably either did them with his kids or was doodling them while occupying his bored mind with the story that goes along with them. (I've done both.)
Posted by: Kristie | September 23, 2006 at 11:05 AM
It will be interesting to see GW Bush's doodles when they get released some day. Apparently he was quite fond of drawing little pictures on the death warrents of the people he exicuted in Texas. They are locked up (illegally) at his dads library at Texas A&M. The Austin Chronicle did a piece on them a few years ago.
Posted by: winterbear | September 25, 2006 at 04:58 PM
Benjamin Harrison's doodle similar to Korn's banshee doll?
Posted by: Miles | November 02, 2006 at 06:15 PM