Eternal Empire by Alex Norden

I'm hypnotized by this image. It's from an upcoming show curated by art magazine The Playground; Angelenos can check it out at the Architecture + Design Museum.

The pose and slogan suggest Nazi propagnda: blond, gun-toting model, SS-style helmet, echoes of Hitler's promise of a "Thousand-Year Reich." But that helmet and raygun refer more obviously to a very different kind of stormtrooper, from American pop culture, implying perhaps that the so-called American Century, and American dreams of empire, are as doomed as the Empire and the Reich—and, if not as malign in intent, certainly deserving of our skepticism. Is it a successful piece? Well, I'm not entirely sure. But damn, it's sexy, right?

[via: style.com]