BA, Art (Studio Arts – Digital Fabrication)

Dankasza414@gmail.com

Artist Statement

Repulsive

Here are seven-foot-long CNC cut centipedes covered in cut paper.  The cut paper is images of the aftermath of roadside bombs during the Iraq war.  A group effort of cutting and discussion led by veterans about Humvees and their capabilities. 

Relax, you’ll be fine, it’s just some centipedes.  We call this a “conversation starter”

Like an intrusive thought, the centipede trespassing in our basements and kitchens causes us to recoil in disgust at these creatures.  But I’d like you to move closer to them, take a closer look at them and sit see them.  Across their backs is a collage of destroyed US HMMWVs (High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle), all of which are critical data points that lead to the research and Development of the MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle).  The Humvee was designed to be a nimble and rugged off-road vehicle, and during the Iraq War it failed, as it was at its most vulnerable on the road.  As you can see from the pictures, not only was 4.5 inches of the best armor not enough – 8 inches, even 10 inches, wouldn’t have been enough.

The same military industrial complex Generals Dwight Eisenhower and Smedley Butler warned us of, is a soft target and an easy villain to name on college campuses; but I’d like to share a moment in time when I was glad to have such a thing.  Between 2003-2008 at the peak of the Iraq War, the struggle to keep soldiers protected on the roads was near impossible.  Field crafted cope cages and bolt on EFP (Explosively Formed Penetrator) kits did not defeat the IED (Improvised Explosive Device).  The MRAP being the path the Defense Industry took to find enough steel and tries to keep soldiers alive on the road moving forward.  An 80% reduction in casualties as a result. 

Although it may be repulsive, I appreciate the centipede in my home, knowing it repels incursions of termites and other pests.