Summary: Bunny and I made the following pieces for an art/politics show at the Arlington Arts Center, one of the main contemporary arts centers serving the Washington, D.C. area. We made them specifically to address residents of D.C./Virginia/Maryland region. The exhibition ran from Agust 15 - September 27, 2008.
On Native Land triptych
Pinky & Bunny
Giclée on canvas, 9 feet wide.
2008
Artists' statement: "We are living in the shadow of violence and denial."
This triptych is from our On Native Land series. Together the three panels name imperial culture, militarism, and occupation as basic structuring elements of the United States of America, currently the planet's most powerful settler state. The left-side image, with its huge columns and the D.C. Mall in the background, is a reference to how imperial culture and symbolic form are deployed to shape popular narratives and provide the empire with a strong sense of identity. The middle image, a nuclear explosion at the Nevada Test Site, refers to militarism and direct use of force (sometimes just the threat of force will do) in the service of building and maintaining an empire. The right-side image, a photograph of Arlington National Cemetery (also not included in this exhibition), is a reference to the seizure and use of native land by settlers for settler interests.
