Elvis Ex Machina

In which a collage is resolved by the unexpected intervention of Elvis.

A lovely piece on paper, mid-late 1990s. The background is some groovy wrapping paper and I’ve added not-too-many elements from a range of sources: photos, scientific illustrations, 19th century engravings.

I’m an occasional fan of Elvis the singer, but much more a fan of Elvis the quasi-deity. I feel like he was the first rock ‘n’ roll superstar and the worship bestowed on him by his devotees places him right up there with Jesus and the Beatles as the gods of the 20th century.

With this in mind I visited Graceland in 1998 and paid homage at the #1 shrine to the King, which incidentally is also a great shrine to the excesses of 1970s interior design.

As well as learning about Elvis’ life and his awesome taste for Vegas kitsch, we learned that he once had his chef serve meatloaf every night for a year, and marveled at a sculpture of Elvis in the style of Michaelangelo’s ‘David’, but with a substantially heftier package, if you know what I mean!

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