Truth Behind the Lies (The Giant Mushroom) , JSim (2011)

            Shock, horror, sorrow, anger, blankness, confusion, happiness, and betrayal. These are some of the many feelings people feel at times of war. Truth Behind the Lies portrays these emotions that government tends ignore when it comes down to declaring a war. This work questions the government and their statement by showing people, of all ages, gender, and race, crying over the loss of their loved one in a war, where the causes and effect seems questionable. Whether you live in the winning side or the losing side in the war, it always brings tears to people's lives. Many people lose their loved ones, from civilians to soldiers. The crying people are of all races. It doesn't matter what country you are from and it does not matter whether your country's bombing another or destroying their land because sooner or later, they will seek revenge. The girl in the middle is holding a white paper that has a smile on it, as if to hide her true feelings of the war. She also have a question mark, indicating that she is confused on whether she should be happy or not. Furthermore, the bombs are targeted to the people and stealth planes are dropping bombs to people and their houses. As people watch bombs being thrown to them and see their houses being destroyed, are they truly happy, let alone thankful, about the war? The government repeatedly uses their citizens as an excuse to war, stating that the purpose of war is for the goodness of the citizens and their well being in the future. How is the war supposed to help if so many people are unhappy and sadden by the war? 

Massacre in Korea, Picasso (1951)

             The Massacre in Korea, painted by Picasso in the year 1951, depicts a scene from the Korean War. After his famous piece, Guernica, Picasso focused his drawings on an anti-war message, criticizing governments for their actions. This painting is famous for its resemblance to Goya’s The Third of May 1808. The Massacre in Korea was a response to the 1950 Sinchon Massacre, when South Korean troops and American soldiers marched out to Sinchon, North Korea, and killed huge numbers of people presumed to be communist supporters, but also civilians (Park, Par 3). Though the details of this incident are still debated by the North and the South, the Sinchon Massacre is still one of the major events in Korean history. 
             This painting divides into two parts: left and right. The left side contains four women and children, and its overall tone is red. The ground they are standing on has a reddish color, symbolizing death, while the land on the right is green, much like healthy, beautiful grassland (Victor, Par 4). The Korean women are mourning the death of their people and children while the soldiers dressed like medieval knights, presumably American soldiers, point their weapons at the innocent civilians. Picasso shows the weakness of these civilians (mainly women and children) through their nakedness while the soldiers are dressed and armed (Victor, Par 3). The nakedness of the civilians shows their weakness in this situation and how powerless they are while witnessing their motherland crash and burn by the powerful opposition. Furthermore, these soldiers resemble medieval knights, symbolizing justice, chivalry for the country, and ultimately, resemble medieval knights fighting for their powerful lords. Picasso, however, questions whether their actions are truly justified, as innocent children run and women cry in disbelief. 
             This piece of art work directly relates to the questioning of war because through the mourning, distorted faces of North Korean women, Picasso questions the audience about the purpose of the Korean War. Both sides claim that the purpose of the Korean War was to bring justice to Korea—North and South combined. Then who was this action supposed to benefit? USSR, China, and North Koreans were fighting to bring the South into communism. Simultaneously, the United States and South Korea were fighting to protext themselves from communism invasion. Both sides wanted the extra piece of land for their government; how is this supposed to help the residents of the Korean peninsula? Residents of Sinchon had been murdered by their fellow countrymen just because they lived in the Northern side of the country. The redness of the land the women are standing on and the green color of the land under the soldiers’ feet show how green the red land used to be before it was soaked with the blood of the innocent people who had to die. The toddler playing on the ground shows how clueless children are of the situation they are in, yet they were killed due to the greediness of their government. The pointed guns imply that the people on the left side of the painting will be killed in any moment (Victor, Par 11-13). How can this act be justified?

Crayon Boy (Gun), Banksy (2011)

             Banksy is one of the most famous street artists alive. His artistic style ranges from graffiti to sculpture-like works. Some view him as an obnoxious vandal while others believe him to be a brilliant genius. He keeps his identity a secret; his secrecy and brilliant works fascinate people. His art not only adds playful life into mundane buildings and streets, but also promotes an anti-war message.This art work criticizes the government for making young children participate in war, though the war is supposed to be for the benefit of the people. Bansky questions what the government's purpose in the war was through this simple, yet powerful street art.

             In the Crayon Boy (Gun) by Banksy, there is a little boy, presumed to be a Vietnamese boy, reviving a scene from the Vietnam War (National Public Radio, Par 2).  The landscape shows the type of activities this boy should be engaging in: drawing flowers and butterflies with crayons while the sun looks down happily. However, he is standing in the middle of this oh-so-happy garden, holding a machine gun, fighting for his life. Banksy revives a scene from a war, but instead of using deadly, metal bullets, he replaces them with rainbow-like crayons. This replacement shows his feelings about the phenomenon of forcing children to participate in war and how brutal that is. Although the subject of the art work is Vietnamese, this piece “comments on children (in general) that are forced to participate in war” (National Public Radio, Par 3).

             Thematically, this artwork questions the purpose of war. The Vietnam War was supposed to be a war between the two major opposing sides in Vietnam; in the big picture, however, it was just a huge war between the USSR and the US. The two countries were supposedly fighting for the poor Vietnamese, when in reality, they were just fighting for their own greed as stronger nations. Banksy questions who this war was for and whether it was necessary to make children get involved in this greedy game for adults and by adults.

Rebellious Silence, Shirin Neshat (1994)

            Shirin Neshat is a photographer and a film director who works in the United States. However, her artwork reflects the Islamic society, primarily in Iran, where she was born. Her focus lies on the Islamic culture and tradition, especially on women in Islamic culture (Carnegie Museum of Art , Par 1). Due to her explicit attacks on sexual, political, and religious issues in Iran, she cannot work in her birth nation (Collins, Par 1). She questions the position of women in Islamic culture and the fight between the tradition and the revolution.

            Her works ask questions instead of answering them. In Rebellious Silence,we have a woman, covered in a veil, holding a gun. Her face is covered with writing; the writing on her face makes her seem as if she is wearing a niqāb, not a hijab. Niqāb is one of the more extreme veils women must wear, showing obedience to the male supremacy in Islamic culture. The woman looks as if she’s ready to fight. She looks determined, staring straight at the camera. The origin of the musket is unclear, but its presence implies that she is going to war, ready to fight. Neshat’s works depict women in the Iran-Iraq War, responding to the violent war at that time (Metropolitan Museum of Art, Par 1). Although her works are based on women’s position during the war, her feminist actions also imply that these women are ready to fight for their right in the conservative world of Islam. Although women took part in the Iran-Iraq War, they are still mistreated in both countries; Neshat, like previous artists, raises the question of who the war is fought for. The woman in the picture raises the question of what she’s fighting for—is it for herself or for the benefits of others?

Duality of Humanity 2, Shepard Fairey (2008)

Starting off as a teenage skater, Shepard Fairey is another famous street artist. His artistic career started off by decorating his skateboard and then plastering the city of Providence with his André the Giant has a Posse stickers; now his art is part of major museum collections. Fairey’s art supports his political beliefs; many of his works are anti-war, anti-oppression and anti-government. He is not afraid to announce his beliefs via art, but it has also led to his arrest many times. Most of his works are innovated from another source; he takes something that already exist and mutates it in a way that makes it his and changes the message.

             This Duality of Humanity print is based on Al Rockoff’s photo of the Vietnam War, a photo of a Vietnamese boy, walking around in his armed weapons and a flower on his head (thegiant.org, Par 2). Rockoff’s photo journal was supposed to show what had happened during the Vietnamese War; Fairey took the photo and revived it in a way that the boy is not going off to fight the enemy, but instead to fight for peace. His backpack has a badge, the OBEY badge, with a peace sign. It is implied that this kid is going to fight, not for the greedy governments, but for his peace. Two strongest powers at the time, United States and the Soviet Union, were fighting to bring Vietnamn into their government. The soldiers who participated in this war were fighting to quench the thirst of the two nations, not for the good of their country. Fairey uses the image of a boy fighting for United States, but transforms it in a way where he is now fighting for his peace, for his country. In addition, Fairey responds to the combination of the original motif (of Vietnam War) and the Iraq War in 2008 in this work (thegiant.org, Par 1). This work combines Rockoff’s response to the Vietnam War with his response with the Iraq War, showing the direct connection between anti-war movements, forty years apart. His work responds to the greed of United States government in both wars. As a response to the Iraq War, Fairey questions the war and its purposes behind it all, by portraying a kid fighting for his peace. In his work, this boy is fighting for his peace; what was the boy fighting for back then? What are the kids in Iraq fighting for today?

“We Can Do It!”, J Howard Miller (1942)

            
            The "We Can Do It!" Poster, often referred to as Rosie the Riveter, was made by an American artist, J. Howard Miller, during World War II, as part of the American propaganda campaign. During the war, the majority of the men in the nation were enlisted in the army, which led to a lack of workers in the nation. Often identified as the iconic American feminist poster, this piece of work lured women left at home to take over the jobs that men had once held. War propaganda in general had many goals, one of them being patriotism; through patriotism, the government implied the idea that the war is for the benefit of American people and that the government is involved in the war for its people (National Park Service, Par 1). This poster is no different.
            In this poster, we see a muscular woman, dressed as a riveter. She resembles a male, except a red bandana on her head implies that she is fashionable, if not feminine. The slogan asks fellow women to be strong and participate in the workforce that they have rarely been a part of up until now. The government is asking women to consider how they can help their country, stirring up patriotism in an effort to gain their support for the war. The slogan “We Can Do It” implies that the government wants women to step up and take the position of men, suggesting that the government is pro-feminist. The slogan also suggests that the nation can win the war, with the help of women. The government created this poster not to support feminism, however, but to help the government satisfy its short-term needs for labor. Like the other works of art in this gallery, therefore, the government is involved in the war to satisfy its needs, not necessarily the needs of people. All the other works of art in this gallery reveal that war helps the government more than the people, even though the government claims that the war is for the benefit of the people. This work of art suggests the opposite, although if you examine it deeply, this work of propaganda functions otherwise.
            The government’s intention with this poster was revealed once the men enlisted came back after the war; the men sent female workers back to their domestic labor, demanding their position in the workforce as men. Factories started sending away their female workers, but these women questioned their role in society. They knew now that they had the ability to work in the same positions as men. This would spark the feminist movement in the United States. Although the government’s intention in this poster was to extinguish their short term problems of a lack of workers, their campaign was the stepping stone to the feminist movement in America.

Works Cited

Collins, Lauren. "The Woman Behind the Screen." The New Yorker. The New Yorker, 22 Oct. 2007. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. http://www.newyorker.com/online/2007/10/22/slideshow_071022_neshat.

Del Barco, Mandalit. "'Shenanigans Are What He Does': Is Banksy Gunning For An Oscar? : Monkey See : NPR." NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. National Public Radio, 25 Feb. 2011. Web. 11 May 2011. http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2011/03/09/134054241/shenanigans-are-what-he-does-is-banksy-gunning-for-an-oscar?sc=tw.

"Duality of Humanity 2." The Giant: The Definitive Obey Giant Site. The Giant: The Definitive Obey Giant Site, 19 June 2009. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. http://www.thegiant.org/wiki/index.php/Duality_of_Humanity_2.

Park, Kyoung H. "'Massacre in Korea' & 'disOriented'" Korea Times. Korea Times, 18 Feb. 2009. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2009/10/181_39821.html.

"Rosie the Riveter: Women Working During World War II." U.S. National Park Service - Experience Your America. National Park Service. Web. 12 May 2011. http://www.nps.gov/pwro/collection/website/propaganda.htm.

"Shirin Neshat." Carnegie Museum of Art. Carnegie Museum of Art. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. http://www.cmoa.org/international/html/art/neshat.htm.

"Shirin Neshat: Women of Allah: From Way In Way Out Portfolio (published 1996) (1997.129.8) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: Metmuseum.org. Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, Oct. 2006. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1997.129.8.

“Victor. "  2010   May   03 by Acting-Out Politics." Acting-Out Politics Weblog Opens Discussion about the Psychology of Bushmerican Style of Behavior. Acting-Out Politics. Web. 30 Apr. 2011. http://www.actingoutpolitics.com/2010/05/03/.