Frankenchrist
Artist: Dead Kennedys; H.R. Giger
Year: 1986
Date of Action: 1986
Region:
Location: San Francisco, CA
Subject: Explicit Sexuality
Medium: Music
Confronting Bodies: State of California
Description of Artwork: Music Album Frankenchrist
The Incident: According to Jello Biafra's spoken world album High Priest of Harmful Matter: Tales from the Trial, police officers came to his home in pursuit of "harmful matter". They seized copies of his Frankenchrist album because it contained what they considered an obscene H.R. Giger painting. They charged and tried Jello Biafra for "distributing harmful matter to minors". Jello Biafra said the police officers wanted to arrest H.R. Giger, but after Biafra informed them Giger "was in Switzerland", they realized they could not.
Results of Incident: Jello Biafra and his band faced an obscenity trial. The jury could not reach a verdict, so the judge dismissed the case.
Source:
• https://jellobiafra.bandcamp.com/track/tales-from-the-trial
According to Jello Biafra's spoken world album High Priest of Harmful Matter: Tales from the Trial, police officers came to his home in pursuit of "harmful matter". They seized copies of his Frankenchrist album because it contained what they considered an obscene H.R. Giger painting. They charged and tried Jello Biafra for "distributing harmful matter to minors". Jello Biafra said the police officers wanted to arrest H.R. Giger, but after Biafra informed them Giger "was in Switzerland", they realized they could not.
Jello Biafra and his band faced an obscenity trial. The jury could not reach a verdict, so the judge dismissed the case.