After much anticipation, the big reveal has finally been made. Gaga's 'ARTPOP' cover was unveiled on Monday via her Twitter along with a quote from her song, Applause: 'One second I'm a Koons, then suddenly the Koons is me!' 'Koons' referring to Jeff Koons, designer of the cover. As probably expected, the cover is eye catching, artistic and generally just kooky. Although not her greatest cover, Gaga is definitely trying to make a statement with this and the whole album in general. At the iTunes festival back in the beginning of September, Gaga boldly stated how she "wanted to set self free of this box they put you in, in pop music." If this cover isn't stepping outside of the box, I don't know what is. On the cover is a sculpture of the pop sensation herself, along with distorted images of Botticelli's 'Birth of Venus' as a background, alluding to the idea that Gaga is in a state of 'rebirth.' With all this artwork on the cover, the sculpture and title of the album, it is fairly clear that Gaga holds this notion that she is a piece of artwork herself, not just her music. Art is about perpetual evolution and constant recreation, which is what Gaga seems to be engaging in as a pop artist at this stage in her career. To be honest, this isn't really something new and exciting for Gaga. All these ideas of rebirth and creation and art have always been a big part of her work. Just look at 'Born this Way,' for example. And as for this whole idea of living art... from the get-go, she has always been somewhat a walking piece of art what with her scandalous, and sometimes scary, outfits. But that's what most of us love her for. The cover itself is definitely different and does step outside of the box, compared to her other album covers. But when has Gaga ever been
inside the box? Maybe if she toned down all the craziness and revealed a cover with her lying on the couch with a cup of tea in her pajamas then we'd really be impressed. But then it just wouldn't be Gaga. Here's the cover art in full;
We also have a heads-up on the track-list...
ARTPOP tracklist: "Aura" "Venus" "G.U.Y. (Girl Under You)" "Sexxx Dreams" "Jewels N' Drugs" feat. T.I., Too Short, and Twista "Manicure" "Do What U Want" feat. R. Kelly "Artpop" "Swine" "Donatella" "Fashion!" "Mary Jane Holland" "Dope (Formerly I Wanna Be With You)" "Gypsy" "Applause"
What are your thoughts on the cover art? Let us know in the comments below...