The Vandalization of the Ghost of Electricity

The Vandalization of the Ghost of Electricity
--click to enlarge--

There seems no end of artists inspired by the music of Bob Dylan, including myself. Two of the most imaginative visual interpreters of Dylan's catalogue whom I've gotten to know are Claude Angel BONI and Daniel Botkin, whose work is displayed here from time to time. 

Here's the backstory for The Vandalization of the Ghost of Electricity, courtesy Daniel Botkin.

Last fall my daughter Emily told me that Bob Dylan was doing a concert in Chicago. Emily said it might be her only opportunity to see Bob Dylan in person before he gives up the ghost. So I told her we could go. As we drove North on Interstate 57, the dry Illinois prairie was dotted with electric power lines.

"When I was a little kid, I always thought those electric power lines looked like goats," Emily said.

I looked at the electric power lines, and lo, I beheld them. The goats. The goats of electricity. Nay, the ghost of electricity, as it is written, "The ghost of electricity howls in the bones of her face" (Visions of Johanna 2:9). So after I got home, I painted the goats of the ghost of electricity, with myself vandalizing the sign at the bottom of the painting. The title of this painting is "The Vandalization of the Ghost of Electricity," oil on canvas, 30" x 40".

Disclaimer: If any paranoid people are disturbed by this painting because they think that goat heads are Satanic, let me remind you that God, not Satan, created goats as part of His "very good" creation. Furthermore, God declared goats to be acceptable for sacrifice, even on Yom Kippur, and kosher for food. There is nothing wrong with goats. They are acceptable for sacrifice, food, and artwork. 

See more of Daniel Botkin's Dylan-themed artwork in his book: https://www.lulu.com/.../hardcover/product-45qjwn2.html