cover image Obscene Interiors: Hardcore Amateur Decor

Obscene Interiors: Hardcore Amateur Decor

Justin Jorgensen. Baby Tattoo Books, $12 (64pp) ISBN 978-0-9729388-0-8

Very post-""Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,"" this hilarious collection of photos drawn from Internet personal ads put the average Joe's interior decorating under close scrutiny. What's funniest about this slim and trim collection is that the men who originally placed the ads have been""grayed out""--reduced to solid silhouettes so as not to detract from the full effects of their decorating faux-pas (though likely Jorgensen's initial impulse to obscure them had more to do with legal reasons). Those effects are heightened by arch captions from Jorgensen (justinspace.com), who writes of a gray figure sprawled out on a hideous plaid couch:""Who really cares if the couch clashes with the carpet? ... It's your place and it should make you happy."" Other highlights include a figure manacled to a bed made up with leather sheets.""And, you'd better condition the leather before you use them,"" Jorgensen quips,""or your sweat will leave white sweat marks that will look like mildew."" The photos are smallish and low quality, in keeping with their Internet sources, with Jorgensen commenting (with a wealth of double-entendres) on each crime against good taste. Will this book make men rethink what's around them when they're posing for their photos? As Todd Oldham says in his foreword,""as evidenced in almost every photo, we have tragic spatial issues when it comes to hanging art and objects."" Or perhaps some people actually find fake wood paneling, bow-hunting equipment and overused leather armchairs irresistibly sexy.