- Video Work
- Photography | Printmaking
- Installation
Mines/Minds Don't Care 2008/2009
“Minds/Mines Don’t Care” is a series of photograms of I.E.D.s (Improvised Explosive Devices) and land mines.
The photogram keeps the objects to scale and references the viewer’s physical presence. Simultaneously, the
instant identification of what one sees has been reduced to a simple state. It invites the viewer to question
what they are looking at. Current bombs are being made out of readily available materials, such as trash,
cell phones, light bulbs, pens, water bottles—other items can be gathered with a quick trip to the hardware store.
Similar to X-rays or early cyanotype photogram botany studies, these photos catalog the truth of the object.
The X-ray quality plays with issues of paranoia and “Homeland Security.” In America, we are far removed from
the realities of a suicide bomber, explosions in public spaces, and open land that has been embedded with mines.
Contrasting elements of this work include the ideas of beauty, intrigue, fragility, mundane objects and the implied
violence that is present in these weapons which link them to a maker. In the end, it is the human mind that is
the biggest threat.
The title derives from the U.S. military issuing country-specific land mine identification card packs.
On the front of this pack is the iconic skull and cross bones with the slogan: “Be Aware Mines Don’t Care.”
