Slipknot percussionist Shawn Crahan (a.k.a. Clown) isn’t just good at hitting things, he’s also got the mind of an artist and a keen eye for detail. In addition to expressing himself through videos, Crahan has taken thousands of creative photos over the years, and we’re proud that he’s chosen HeadbangersBlog.com as a platform to exhibit some of the shots in a weekly guest blog filled with candid commentary. Click “more” to see week five of “The Eye of a Clown.”
This is a digital photo and it involves something I do almost 24 hours a day — trying to bring movement from the outside world into my non-moving world. As a little boy, I always imagined these towers were robots and aliens from other planets wielding reigns to enslave the human race. If you use your imagination you can see these giant praying mantis aliens holding leashes to mass amounts of human beings that are pulling these things. The black spot represents me hiding in covert operations and trying to show other humans what’s happening.
The picture is also a metaphor for something I’m always trying to slam into people’s heads: The things that we really need to be paying attention to are clouded by the things we think we need. These electrical lines are obviously things that we require, however we invented them. And if you look through, you’ve got this sad, dark cloud and this whole scene that’s so surreal. More people probably know less about the clouds and more about what electricity is. So, through my photography, I’m always trying to make some sort of acknowledgment of purity and things that are our downfall. I’m not trying to say that phone lines aren’t full of positive potential, I’m just saying that human being rape the earth for things that we need. We construct and deconstruct and make all this stuff, and the things we should be focusing on are right in front of us, like the clouds.
In case you missed it, check out parts one and two of our in-depth two-part podcast interview with Crahan.
