American Spirit

American Spirit
New artwork by Scrappers

Smoking does make ladies prettier and it does make men look tougher. Why are there always ads pathetically begging you not to smoke? Smoking makes you cooler then non-smokers. It’s true! Look at James Dean, Clint Eastwood and every waitress standing out back of some crappy restaurant.
Everyone knows the dirty history of tobacco: Native American massacres, slavery, addiction, cancer and gnarly consumer trickery. However, we continue to smoke. Smoking is a middle finger pointed at the world.
In defiance of natural and cultural laws we smoke in the spirit of ancient rebellion. Americans are rebels, our culture is founded on rebellion, our history, our wars and our consumer habits all reflect this. We champion the underdog, cheer the comeback kid, support the challenger brand, fly the flag of the black cowboy, scream for the scavenger eagle attacked by seagulls and will kill for anything else pushing against retarding limitation.
We lack a visual language to speak on behalf of this American Spirit. A language that says, “Fuck you, I’m American. I can do whatever I want”. So it became clear to me a while ago that our Native Americans and smoking make a beautiful statement together. Sure, this might have occurred to a certain cigarette company owned the second largest tobacco maker in the us R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, but the material is so rich for an art show that I had to move ahead with the idea despite copy write laws.
I see enough material on this subject to spend the rest of my life on this smooth and full-flavored subject.

My name is Justin “Scrappers” Morrison, can I bum a cigarette from you?