Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Iraq, Paper, Scissors
I recently read a quote that said there are only two kinds of people; those who create, and those who destroy. I had been thinking about that statement a lot when I came across this project on my friends' blog Groundswell. These Iraqi veterans are reinventing themselves in a profound way. This is a touching and thought provoking project.
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At first I was hesitant about this project - I'm generally turned off by all things militant. I do still have some reservations, but I posted it because I liked the idea of the transformation, that we can repurpose something so symbolic of militarism, create civil works, and allow these soldiers to thereby claim their respective histories.
This project does damage to the stereotypical image of the soldier, which the military has a vested interest in maintaining. It's a protest as symbolic and antagonistic as burning draft cards. More, it's couched in this confusing, pseudo-nationalist talk of allowing soldiers to create art that reflects their military experiences. I wonder if the creators considered that antagonism, and the contradiction of creating so-called peaceful work about war?
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