"Stations of the Crass" is the second album by Crass, an English anarcho-punk band, released in 1979. It is an excellent example of the cut-up/collage aesthetic used by the collective, with strong influences from Dadaism and political surrealism, also referring to protest art and subversive propaganda.
The chaotic and violent composition, such as the figure decapitated by a revolver and the woman apparently in panic, reflects the moral collapse of a society ruled by institutional violence, the media and patriarchy.
The nude figures arranged in aesthetic positions refer to the exploitation of the female body in Western culture, criticizing both pornography and passivity in art and advertising.
The child pointing a gun and the animal (apparently a snake or an animal skull) refer to the animalization of human behavior and the loss of innocence from an early age, fueled by an armed and authoritarian society.
A parody of the "Stations of the Cross" (Via Crucis, or the Stations of the Cross, in the Christian tradition). It mocks the sacralization of suffering and obedience in society, something that Crass has strongly attacked, including institutional Christianity as part of the oppressive system.
The graphic aesthetic of the cover, made by Gee Vaucher (artist for Crass), is deliberately confusing, uncomfortable and loaded with symbolism. Its purpose is to provoke, shock and destabilize, a visual attack on normativity and conformity.
