Nostalgic Appropriation- Destruction and Creation of Ideals
A nostalgic view of American culture with a dystopian outlook, this linoleum print is an expression of pacified fear. By creating a friendly façade for the destruction that comes from atomic power, it idealizes the brutality of our own progress for the sake of a positive memory of the past.
As new generations grow up, the symbols and themes of past generations are adapted and assimilated into the new. A pseudo-nostalgia for the past is created where American culture, for example, is glorified or idealized untruthfully. World War II was infamously ended when the playfully named "Fat Man" and "Little Boy" atomic devices where dropped on populations, yet 75 years later and the cold war and post-nuclear aesthetic became a nostalgic style.
With a Pop Art method of violence being stripped to flat modes of color, the artwork is turned child-friendly and appears of positive virtue. War is a good antonym for art and creativity because it is destruction and art is creation. There is a sense of dread in the images of war, even if obscured behind bright color or mask of paint.
The gods of war are always personified with some admiration and respect; idealized even though they are feared. The fall of Rome is just as much remembered as its rise; there is a dichotomy in the creation and destruction of great endeavors and we often canonize both. There is a twisted delight found in chaos, and it is often a theme in art.
What compels us to look back are grim histories with nostalgic acceptance? How do the images we look at, and the movies we watch, reveal our true opinions of war and fear?
I made this artwork in isolation and it reveals a certain attitude towards the past as a time-assured honor. What is not remembered is forgotten, but do we sacrifice our past and the atrocities we committed for the sake of an assurance of the future. Do we ignore our dark past when we play it up as a righteous cause or inevitability?
Atomic: Linoleum Print Series, 1 of 6, 2009. Ink on paper.
Comentarios