Being Axl Rose

September, 2005

Axl Rose is the lead singer of the rock band Gun N' Roses.

In 2005 the artist discovered a website forum called How to Find Axl Rose and decided to post a message stating that he was the real Axl Rose: -

Dear fans & un-fans. I am getting tired of reading these things about me online all the time, so here is my email address (axlrose01@hotmail.com) for you all to write your questions to me. If it goes crazy then I'll just let it go over the limit and set up a new account. I can't say I will read everything; I'm very busy these days.

Looking forward to it.

Peace,

Axl

Receiving hundreds of emails in a few weeks from people from all over the world the artist became interested and voyeuristic. While some people guessed that the email address was phoney most wrote assuming it was real.

Emails ranged from “If you really are Axl tell me the name of your new songs?” to “Dear Axl, If you don’t reply to this I am going to kill myself!”.

One girl wrote confessing that she had been hiding in the bushes outside Roses' home in LA, or had waited for a glimpse of him at his local petrol station. The same girl later sends a four page letter describing an in depth a theory about how her and Axl Rose were once one soul born hundreds of years ago, and that something had happened to tear this soul in two. She saw this as a fact and wished to rejoin Axls soul with hers, proclaiming she wasn't interested in him, or his music. Receiving no response throughout the project from the artist she wrote a final email, this time wishing that it was Axl Rose who had killed himself, and not Kurt Cobain (Nirvana).

After four months the emails where edited and compiled into a book.

The emails are set in chronological order and the book is made up of three sections: -

1) The artist pretending to be Axl Rose
2) The artist revealing his true identity
3) The response to the artist revealing his true identity

The project talks about the celebrity, boundaries of public vs. private life, faith and our attempts to communicate with the entities that inspire and offer a meaning to our lives.

2022 update:
The Internet and general public have changed much since this piece of work was made. This book predates the American documentary ‘Catfish’ by five years.  I felt uncomfortable about this work in recent years but still see it as an interesting concept and moment in time.

SOLD OUT / NOT TO BE RE-ISSUED

Note - the artist makes no profit or revenue from this publication.

Limited edition book, 2006


Axl rose with snakes
Crayon on paper
21 x 29 cm
2020

Book cover (wrap) from 2nd edition, 2006.


Axl Rose impersonation study for book, unused, 2006