The Art of Arrangement

http://thingsorganizedneatly.tumblr.com/

Some years ago I found a book of camouflage patterns. Compelled by both the idea of camouflage and the beauty of the patterns I did some research. I learned that vehicular military camouflage was the brainchild of artist Norman Wilkinson, his first thoughts happening while he was serving on patrol in the English Channel in May 1917. The style of painting he proceeded to create became known as "Razzle Dazzle" and was used primarily on war ships.

My interest in military visual culture grew and eventually led me to hunting websites (www.nra.org for example). One day I stumbled on a handful of shooting targets whose names captured my attention: Square Pie, Dunkin Donut, Lifesavers, Stars, Cross, Xena, Goodyear, Morse Code, Eclipse, Batman, Blade... I was not only attracted to these names and their diverse references but to the targets’ effortless and minimal geometry.

Then 9/11 happened, and the American "war on terror," I found myself needing to ask questions about violence and violent impulses, about why people kill each other, and about what a culture of killing does to humanity and I began to wonder what I could do to engage my concerns about the pervasiveness of violence. 

This project does nothing to solve the problem of violence but, during its emergence, it did force me to think about violence.  The thought I kept returning to is that violence (or pacifism for that matter) begins at home.  Our earliest lessons in how to treat people are embedded in the words, inflections, gestures, vocal tone, or the quality of touch a parent has to her infant. With this thought replaying in my mind over and over again I started paralleling targets and camouflage with decorative fabrics, tying the visual culture of everyday life to the visual culture of needless death. 

In the words of Denver Buston, “While it perpetuates its search for truth and/or beauty, art reminds that objects taken out of their context, removed from their original intent, can have different aesthetic resonance, just as the object of killing removed from what it is and given the name "Dunkin Donut" or "Razzle Dazzle" can allow the killer to kill without association of what or whom he is killing.”

All of the resulting collages are 7” x 7” and are a combination of upholstery fabric and custom colored ink jet cut outs. They are put together using Gudy- an archival double sided tape.

Cross

Horizon Bull's Eye

Square Pie

Batman

Goodyear

Life Saver

Xena

Top ten countries with the most people age 65 and over. 2004

Top ten countries with the greatest carbon footprint. 2004

Top ten countries with the greatest military expenditure. 2004.

Top ten countries with the most Olympic medalists. 2004.

Top ten countries with most refugees seeking asylum. 2004.

Top ten countries with the greatest threat of being attacked by terrorists. 2004.

Ana Torfs:Appromixations/Contradictions

From stillness to life-a diptych: A man or woman in front of a white background/some text with a black background. The face is still.  Then the music begins. The face sings. About war, escape, suicide, evil, tanks, refuge, small pleasures. The faces contort, moving with the music, sending the words shooting unnaturally from the gut to the nasal cavity and back again. Black box, white box. Face/text, german/english, sound/silence, past/present, war/peace, life/death- action and taking action... or not. Then...stillness, complacency, apathy, anticipation, relief, nostalgia, emptiness, wonder...humanity unleashed.

Each "scene" an intimate Brechtian portrait. Like Goya or Velazquez, a reckoning is requested.

No gallery. No subways, no fees, no crowds. Private and yet more public than a museum...A web-based project, "Appromixations/Contradictions" is a paradoxically human and inhuman negotiation. The performers sing to you- only you-AND all the millions of potential viewers. An invisible community is formed. "Potential" is not just a theme embedded in the medium but in the message. You have to make choices- read or watch? Do you select in order? Watch the whole thing or only parts? Do you read the text or make eye contact with the performers in all their vulnerability. You have a choices.

While "Appromixations/Contradictions" could be considered "virtual" I argue that it is not. You are part of its breath...part of the push and pull of dualities and choices...Meeting the performer's gaze, the viewer is a witness, a friend, a fellow conspirator, a murderer, an activist, a curator. These roles are not virtual, they are facts, for a moment.