Patriotism and duty are key issues in American life. The inspiration for this piece came from the original 1813 Star Spangled Banner created by Mary Pickersgill, and which was raised over Fort McHenry on the morning of September 14, 1814, to signal the American victory over the British in the Battle of Baltimore. In the late 1800’s over 200 sq feet of snippets were cut from the flag and given away as souvenirs to prominent people. As a conceptual piece I have attempted to define the power of patriotism as a symbol gradually eroded by the stress of conflict, as exemplified by the contemporary war on terrorism. Each individual piece represents a State of the U.S. and as a whole is meant to evoke the numerous stones in a military graveyard. As ‘Snippets’ it questions the U.S. Patriot act of 2001, enacted by the administration of President George W. Bush and which enables the government to examine and intercept all communications and personal records of U.S. residents in the war against terrorism. It addresses the conflict between personal freedom and governmental control, the fracturing of patriotism in an attempt by the authorities to curtail foreign incursions. Such controversial elements in this are covered in depth in Michael Moore’s ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ which was also a major inspiration of the piece.
I changed this piece as it developed in the latter stages to reflect the events of October 2009 which saw the heaviest losses of personnel in Afghanistan. 18 refers to the number of killed servicemen brought to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on October 29th 2009, a unique event since President Barack Obama attended this event together with the families of the deceased. At this point he (The President) was aware of the fact that he had been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, and the committee was reported as subtly attempting to influence his decision to cease the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, yet all of this was to no avail. In December of 2009 the President made the order to send a further 30,000 troops to Afghanistan despite having received an international award for peace.
Throughout the production of this piece I have been working with numerical values and their connections to the lives of real individuals. It finally reached its apex with the designation of ’18.’ That so often war is often only concerned with numbers and statistics and fails to appreciate events on a human scale. I was emotionally moved by the return of dead servicemen at Dover and motivated to write an accompanying poem; ‘Eighteen is Not Just a Number.’ The name ‘Dover’ is a significant cultural reference in my mind, connected to the ‘White Cliffs of Dover’ which soldiers returning from the wars in Europe would see first; it signifies a safe haven, a end to conflict, peace. I thought that this event at Dover AFB would the beginning of the end (of the war) and a return to normality, but I was disappointed and disheartened. In the background I could hear the Joint Chiefs of Staff and general’s laughing… laughing at the Presidents prize for peace whilst they handed him the order to send in more troops to continue their war.
‘18’ sums up my feelings concerning American patriotism as an ideal that is slowly fracturing under the weight and expense of total war.
O white silence
Snow and sand and chalk
Vision of Dover
Pale moon silent
Standing stillness
Faces in prayer
Unloading the Eighteen.
Eighteen…
Not just a random number
But the price of Patriotism:
18 mother’s tears
18 hours of waiting
18 steps of despair
18 shots in darkness
18 fragments of memory
18 reasons to doubt
18 hollow sounds
18 random shouts
18 blanks
18 citations
18 awards
18 lost lovers
18 letters sent
18 SSN’s
18 resume’s
18 hearts
18 questions
18 men…
Eighteen is not just a number.
Artwork: Flag #18 (formerly ‘Star Spangled Snippets’). Cotton Fabric (American Flag) on Pinewood panel, Acrylic paint, flat household paint, military belt, Fencing Wire, Steel Staples.
Copyright David John Drew 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment