Repository logo

Photo Image Making

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10217/180172

Browse

Browsing Photo Image Making by Author "Dale, Jeffrey, artist"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Jeffrey Dale: capstone
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Dale, Jeffrey, artist
    The artist's statement: Remember September--Why is it okay to bomb Charikar and not Fort Collins? I began the art making process as a way to explain experiences to other people. Following my return from Afghanistan in 2011, my work shifted towards readjustment, the veteran 'condition' and PTSD. In this quest, I began to identify the rift that exists between those here in the US and those who had been to war on its behalf. That rift became knowledge, it was the answer to that very question: they are primitive, they are different, and they are the enemy. We are righteous and the right. Their laws are primitive archaic and wrong; we must show them the right way. That is why we can suspend their laws, treat them as we do and invade every aspect of their existence. In Afghanistan, that stopped being the case, they are just like you and I. There is a fascination in this nation about military involvement overseas, that we should involve ourselves militarily in Ukraine, Syria and Darfur. We make these assertions as solutions to their suffering, but more importantly due to our perceptions of who is right and wrong. What if we decided to invade Fort Collins, setting aside our own laws and rights to ensure our forces were victorious in securing our so-called freedom? In War zones, the military uproots and destroys the homes and livelihoods of the individuals who live there. War has no boundaries; it does not care who is there when the bullets fly. Would the populous here be so eager to put boots on the ground if the experience of those on the ground abroad was metered out here? Would it still be okay to bomb Charikar? "Pull back the curtain and witness our own destruction, stealing the innocence of everyone. Justice coming - everyone you know and love, everything we stand above." - This Romantic Tragedy.