 |
| "In God We Trust" grew out of the bemused
observation that our currency bears upon it images of architecture
that are, by and large, institutions of governance. I found
it ironic that the principal instrument of corruption and undue
influence, the "greenback", bears upon it the images
of those same institutions that it subverts. Further, the architectural
style of the buildings represented on the bills, Neoclassicism,
celebrates the architecture, and therefore the achievements
of the first democracy, Athens, and the first republic, Rome.
I spent the academic year 2000/01 on a sabbatical leave to complete
this group of works (begun in 1998) among other projects. I
finished the work in August of 2001. |
| |
| On February 19th 2002 100 16 x 20 prints randomly
selected from this body of work were sent to members of the
U.S. Senate with a letter asking that they pass meaningful campaign
reform. On the February 21st 441 11 x 14 prints were sent to
the members of the House of Representatives thanking them for
their part in passing the Shays-Meehan bill. It is amazing how
fast the Congress can act when an event like the Enron debacle
surfaces. The issue of Campaign finance Reform has been around
for years in the form of the McCain-Feingold bill. |
| |
| The notion of sending each Member of the 107th
Congress a print from the series grew out of the tax rebate
issue. As a middle-class individual, I thought that there were
many more important things that government could do with my
$300 than send it back to me. During the early summer I had
decided to send the refund in equal parts to Senators McCain
(R - AZ), Jeffords (I - VT), and Daschle (D - SD) as campaign
contributions because each had or would play a major role in
the then coming debate over campaign finance reform. Then we
were told that we were supposed to spend the refund to stimulate
the economy. So, in an effort to do my part, I've bought a lot
of photographic paper and sent each member of Congress an image
with the sincere hope that collectively can fix a very broken
system. |
| |
| Giving a print to each member of congress was
conceived as a simple act of giving. But the issue that the
gifting addressed is highly political and the role of an artist
is that of an explorer of ideas and a maker of observation(s).
One essentially points at an issue. So the project of "Gifting
Congress" became a larger, more public work because the issue
it addresses is very large, public and important. HOWEVER. I
am not unaware of the conundrum between giving a gift, an essentially
unselfish act, and then calling attention to the act in the
media and with a web site. |
| |
|
|
