Horror Babylon 2016

Robert Sammelin’s ‘Horror Babylon’ is a modern poster, made with digital tools that allow for the layering of imagery and graphic clarity. The artist draws on a vernacular of exploitation cinema, and pulp illustration. The material substrate is simply paper, but what’s most interesting is the way Sammelin has repurposed a commercial aesthetic. The image is a collision of horror tropes: devils, zombies, possessed children. It’s a world of low-budget special effects and lurid fantasies. The point is not the singular skill of the artist, but rather their ability to re-circulate pre-existing material. This work depends on a system of reproduction and consumption. Sammelin is a curator of collective nightmares, skillfully manipulating the viewer with ready-made monsters. By emphasizing the contemporary modes of design and production, we see how this artwork challenges the traditional boundaries between culture, commerce, and craft.