Art > Thesis

collage three-dimensional layering transparent football war distraction stereoscopic
Home and Away
acrylic
36" x 55"
2012

My work is defined by layers. It consists of synthesizing general notions of accumulation and repetition into a unified and cohesive whole. Football is now the American pastime, and so is war. Weapons of war are now our largest export; right below that is entertainment. At the onset of each football season, fan[atic]s gleefully anticipate a synthetic form of warfare, while generally ignoring the meaning, purpose, and ramifications of our foreign policy. This dynamic has become the ultimate modern-day embodiment of the aestheticization of politics. Through the distraction found in football, our citizens' most tribal urges are re-enacted on the gridiron, satiating their pugnacious, base desires, while simulating the illusion of political participation. The effects of endless war, in the United States and abroad, become lost to the majority of our citizens, as they detach from its reality via their enthusiastic consumption of modern gladiatorial entertainment.