Observations
I am an artist. I translate what I see and how I feel. I’ve been collecting Visual Media Images for 13 years. I’ve received these images from television, newspapers, magazines, tabloids, billboards and the internet. These images reflect the media we saw that I had a reaction to. I’ve turned these images into 14 collages representing current American History. They tell a story! A lot happened the past 13 years.
This series of collages have been called political. I disagree. They are cultural and social. They are like watching Reality TV. They remind us that we eye witnessed 9/11, went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq, learned about the Middle East and learned new words like al-Qaeda, Taliban, Weapons of Mass Destruction and War on Terror.
We got easy credit. Consumerism skyrocketed and than the credit ran out. We lost our jobs, our new or refinanced homes, our pensions and dreams for the future.
Unemployment skyrocketed; budget cuts hit all sectors of our lives. We realized that the stores we shop in are filled with imported items and question what happened to American factories. We hear that Global Warming is Real, our food is being genetically altered and our health is challenged.
We found out that there were NO Weapons of Mass Destruction; “No Draft” means were going to Outsource; and the population is not 100% convinced that there was a plane that actually hit the Pentagon.
At a time when we are involved in two credit card wars our nations financial structure is collapsing as military spending increases.
Who benefited; The Weapons Industry, Pharmaceutical Industry, Oil Industry, Banking Industry, Shipping Industry and Overseas Manufacturing. I don’t feel our government benefited except for a few individuals who I call War Profiteers.
The Media Industry sold us the idea that what was happening was OK! Or encouraged us to look the other way because it felt better. It was an emotional pull of strings that has had serious consequences.
I look at pictures of the conflicts overseas and can’t tell the good guys from the bad guys. Who’s the insurgent? Who’s the rebel? Are they for their government or against them? If we join them whom are we fighting for and why?
How did this happen?
I feel the ones who control what is really going on choreographed a 21st century Shakespearean play. I don’t feel that these pieces are political. I feel they are visual images presented to destabilize and control our emotional behavior and patterns. If we weren’t afraid they reminded us to be. If we felt sad they reminded us to shop or take drugs. They made us feel insecure as to who we are as individual people, as a nation and question our elected leaders choices. Who were our leaders listening too? The corporations and industry that benefited or the people that they are supposed to be representing?