War Babies (extra)

 

Artwork done by John Robertson. This piece is about children being drafted for war around the world. We see more and more children working as spices, carrying supplies, used as human mine detectors and to carry out suicide missions in war. Over 200,00 children were serving in war conflicts during the past years and its very upsetting to think abut.

 

As you can see Robertson has placed this child in a target, because he is too small to defend himself. He is even too small to hold the machine gun. The fact that Robertson has made this child so small makes me feel like he has a strong disliking towards children soldiers.

 

The baby has a very sad/confusing look on his face. It's like he doesn't understand what is going on. The way his feet are placed makes me think that he is just learning how to talk. It's is almost inferring that as soon as the kid can walk, he can hold a gun and fight. If that's the case, most children learn to walk around a year old, so this little guy might only be one. Too young to be a solider.

 

The words at the top say 'Oh Mommy Sugarland,' this might not have anything to do with the work. But there is a song called Joey that the band Sugarland produced a few years ago. I feel like it can relate to this image. I have copied a part of the song and have inserted it below.

Joey



Would I know this hurt
Would I feel this pain
Do you know that with all I have left in my very last breath I will call your name

Joey I'm so sorry
Ohoohoh can you hear me?
Joey I'm so sorry

Were you sad
Were you scared
Did you wish for a prayer to be free
Was it quiet and cold
Was it light or too dark to see
And did you reach for me

 

For some reason when I saw this image I thought of that song. The title of the piece is 'Oh Mommy Sugarland' this song is about losing a love of some kind, possibly a child and it was written my a band called Sugarland. So I feel like there might be some connection. Maybe not, but it's possible.

 



 

Work Makes You Free (extra)

 

The image above caught my attention right away. The artist that made the work is Heidi Winner, she is from a Jewish heritage and her grandfather survived the holocaust.  Heidi said this about the piece "Art became a way to connect to the Holocaust, and to my family's past."

 

The imagery in the work  is very moving. The banner on top say 'work makes you free'. You can see that the people slowly start to wither away and by the time they reach the banner they are nothing but a skeleton. They were literally worked to death. 

 

There is also  a point when they have to pass over a numbered skeleton arm. I'm not sure if this represents when they receive their own number or if it means a fellow person has fallen. The skeleton arm is also holding a Jewish start but outside of the barbed wire. Could this mean that even though they are being punish for being of Jewish faith, that they still have hope and faith in their beliefs?

 

The image of Hitler himself is very creepy. It makes me nervous that he is staring directly at the viewer. He has this look in his eye almost saying that he wants us to see what he has done to these people and that he thinks what he is doing is right. Half of his head is missing and shows that it is empty, we see no brain inside. Could Winner have been saying he was a thoughtless man? I think so. Behind those hateful eyes is nothing but and empty space.

 

Lastly Hitler has his devilish hand firmly wrapped about a little boy. To me it looked like the kind of boy that Hitler thought was the superior race of human. Fair hair and light eyes. But the little boy has a swastika over his face. This makes me feel like it is a representation of Hitler's followers. There were so any people that believed he was doing the right thing. This little boy could have been raise to believe they were right too. A future Nazi? Possibly.

 

 





Stuck in Chains

 

The illustration above was made my artist Pawel Kuczynski. Most of Pawel's work hides a deeper meaning. This image caught my eye, it is captivating. What is the message that Pawel is trying to convey in this piece?

 

I find it interesting that Pawel is having the dark skinned man paint his chains gold. If it is a representation of slavery in American, the chains used at that time were iron. So why paint them gold?

LeVar Burton in Roots

The above images are of LeVar Burton who played in the mini series,  Roots. LeVar's part was that of a slave during the 1860's, the chains he is wearing mimic the chains in the illustration. This leads me to believe that Pawel is referring to African American slaves during this time frame. But again I wonder why the slave is painting the chains gold.



I found this modern picture of the R&B singer 50 cent. As you can see 50 is wearing chains on his neck and wrists. Could it be possible that Pawel was insinuating that slaves were in chains then and future generations are still in them? Although 50 cent is nowhere near a slave, it makes me believe that Pawel is trying to make a connection.

 

It is possible to wonder if this famous rapper is wearing heavy gold chains to represent his ancestry. If so, then the embellishment of gold and diamonds could be inferring that they have overcome and are no longer repressed. 

 

I think Pawel was trying to make us think outside of the box when he created the first illustration. I'm sure the jewelry that modern African Americans wear has nothing to do with their ancestors. But what if it did? How would this change the way we see them? It would change my mind set completely, it would be a cryptic reminder of the travesties born by an innocent people.