MetaFilter posts tagged with war and art

Assuming bullets sell in Somalia for USD 0.75

Fiasco da Gama — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:02:57 -0800

The Adventures Of A Would Be Arms Dealer (PDF) is an eight-page comic illustrating how an illegal arms deal works in practice. Via.

"Many times when the women were sewing they would cry."

Miko — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 11:24:49 -0800

Weavings of War: Fabrics of Memory , an online exhibit of comtemporary textiles created (mostly) by women living in war zones.

History of War and Peace Collection

Rumple — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 12:03:01 -0800

Peace and War in the 20th Century is an ambitious, in progress, massive assemblage of posters, photographs, propaganda, ephemera, letters, diaries, paintings, sketches, stories, letters, music and related items, from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. The collection is international in scope. Some of the nodes lack content, and the navigation is a little confusing, so the jump I list some of my favourite case studies from their site. Note: Many of the images are reasonable resolution if you right click and open in a new tab rather than only view in the pop-forward window. Also scroll down for thumbnails of additional material. The advanced search option is very useful as it includes a detailed site map. Representing War: Posters, Art and Music. Many of the posters are unusual and new to me, such as 'Save Waste Bones - They Make Glue for Aircraft', 'Boys, Come Along, You're Wanted', and this beautiful poster of the Earth and Doves. Concentration Camp correspondence Sir Norman Angell: a lifelong proponent of peace (many images of his pamphlets and posters) The Spanish Civil War: Foreign Intervention, American Reaction. Includes evocative pamphlets, leaflets, and posters. Waging War London prepares for World War II: a great selection of instructional and civil defence materials such as posters and memos. Britain prepares for World War I: some diary pages of Adrian Duff. William Frank Kenwood, Canadian Pilot and Prisoner of War, including newspaper clippings, a letter from the Red Cross, telegrams, etc. Vera Brittain's diaries and pamphlets Canadian Women's Roles in World War I: anything new in war work? Mapping and Photographing World War I: interesting instructional materials, etc. The Nuclear Disarmament Movement, which includes a great collection of very striking posters and leaflets. Evolving Technology in World War I, which includes numerous artistic visions of machine guns, tanks, etc. War Resisters, including pamphlets. World War 1 in the Middle East I like this typed report of a raid. I also like this leaflet against War Toys. As I noted, there is a huge amount of great stuff at this site, interspersed with some dead ends as one would expect from a work in progress.

New Zealand War Art

marxchivist — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 09:51:22 -0800

New Zealand War Art showcases about 1,500 images of New Zealanders at war beginning with World War I. Lots and lots and lots and lots of images in a wide variety of media by a long list of artists. The images are viewable and downloadable in nice large sizes. I can't believe this hasn't been posted before.

Kathe Kollwitz

Brandon Blatcher — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 09:29:41 -0800

Kathe Kollwitz, printmaker and sculptor, on The Peasants War (historical background, prints), w a r and death, mothers and children, herself and the death of her son Peter in WWI.

Big man with a big heart does his part

fearfulsymmetry — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:26:54 -0800

Mark Wallinger has won the Turner Prize for 'State Britain' his recreation of Brian Haw's Parliament Square peace protest. Although for the prize exhibition (this year out of London for the first time) Wallinger showed a video of himself dressed in a bear costume. The seems to be at least one critic's choice although not everyone agrees. Wallinger had previously been short-listed for the prize in 1995 for work exploring his interest in horse racing. Although he is probably best know for the Christ sculpture 'Ecce Homo', and religious themed videos he has produced an eclectic set of work including a TARDIS sculpture.

In the hollow of an unarmorial age

Abiezer — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 04:23:59 -0800

“Iraq War Memorial: Death of Prince Harry" features the in fact hale and hearty royal scion "laid out before the Union Jack with pennies placed over his eyes and head rested on the Bible...Prone with his unfired gun still holstered, Prince Harry is represented clutching a bloodied flag of Wales, and holding to his heart a cameo locket of his late mother, Princess Diana, while a desert vulture perches on his boot...a bronze casting of Prince Harry’s 'severed ears' also set for display at the Trafalgar Hotel will be offered on eBay." Via.

Freaks in the Big Top the Artwork of Mark Bryan

hortense — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 00:36:44 -0800

New Work from artist Mark Bryan's Sideshow Previously

Make faces, not war

elgilito — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 08:56:39 -0800

The Face2face project. JR, an "undercover photographer", and Marco, a technology consultant, had 41 people - israelis and palestinians - mugging for the camera and plastered the huge, unavoidable pictures on both sides of the Israeli West Bank barrier, pair by pair : one israeli, one palestinian, both having similar jobs and posing in a similar fashion (+an imam, a rabbi and a christian priest). See also the trailer (YT, other videos available on the main site).

Swords into ploughshares, indeed.

SassHat — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 12:51:08 -0800

Church chandeliers made from bullet casings and cannon parts Until today I'd never heard of trench art. From the second link: Pieces described as ‘trench art’ have the following distinctly different origins: 1. War souvenirs collected by soldiers or non-combatants during the war and during the demobilization period and modified in some way to serve as a remembrance of the war. 2. Souvenirs crafted by soldiers during the war. 3. Souvenirs made for sale to soldiers by other soldiers or civilians during the war. 4. Souvenirs made by prisoners of war in exchange for food, cigarettes or money. 5. Mementoes of the war made by convalescent soldiers. 6. Post-war souvenirs made for tourists visiting the battlefields. 7. Post-war souvenirs made by commercial firms in ‘trench-art style’.

Born to War

scottreynen — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:27:23 -0800

Born to War is a series of paintings of American women killed in Iraq. The combination of the increasing role of women in the American military and the blurring of lines between combat and non-combat roles in Iraq have made this the first war in which female US soldiers have died in direct combat. The focus on a smaller number of women provides a more approachable view of casualties than more general sites like Iraq Body Count and raises some interesting questions about the role of women in the US military.

Photography by Simon Norfolk

carter — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 13:18:13 -0800

Et in Arcadia ego (flash). Photographs of the scars of war (Afghanistan/Iraq/Bosnia/genocide/Israel-Palestine/Liberia/refugee camps). Also: Afghanistan (no flash version), Thailand/tourism/raves.

Buy War Bonds!

Gamblor — Tue, 30 May 2006 08:34:27 -0800

World War II Posters from the large collection at the Northwestern University Library.

"playing" America's Army

amberglow — Tue, 30 May 2006 07:11:37 -0800

In Memoriam and in Protest --why not use an online deathmatch as a pedestal for speaking out against a war? Artist/Professor uses US Govt-developed America's Army (...placing Soldiering front and center within popular culture and showcasing the roles training, teamwork and technology play in the Army. ... ) as protest and art space. DeLappe's homepage (and jpgs) here

Old-skool rollovers meet poltical art

If I Had An Anus — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 08:50:42 -0800

They come to life playing out scenarios which are in many ways less ridiculous than the reality of the politics they parody. [via]

The Art Of War

Gator — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 07:48:12 -0800

At least one commander told him, "Follow the soldiers' instructions, because they'll put their lives at risk to save you." But no one tried to censor his drawings or discourage him from going out on missions. -- Steve Mumford is a New York painter who was embedded as a "combat artist" in Iraq. The archives of his Baghdad Journal make for fascinating reading. He has recently published a large book of the art he created on this voyage.

Aleksandr Sokurov's "The Sun"

matteo — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 09:54:32 -0800

The Emperor's Bunker. "The Japanese, with sadness and irony, stressed that Hirohito couldn't even speak properly. This was partly to do with the fact that he didn't have to speak - people spoke in his name and he was isolated from real life". "The Sun", the third part in Russian director Aleksandr Sokurov's 'Men of Power' tetralogy after the gloom of Moloch (1999), about Hitler and Eva Braun, and the despairing tones of "Taurus" (2001), focused on the wheelchair-bound Lenin in his death throes, "The Sun" seems almost upbeat. This, after all, is a film about reconciliation. More inside.

The Art of War

kirkaracha — Fri, 03 Jun 2005 08:48:57 -0800

The Art of War is a beautiful British National Archives online exhibit of propaganda illustrations, posters, and films (Dance, Nazis! Dance!) by the Ministry of Information during World War II. Related: more posters, and Alfred Hitchcock also did propaganda films.

Amazing Atlas

blahblahblah — Thu, 02 Jun 2005 22:45:14 -0800

Matthew White's Historical Atlas of the 20th Century. One of those amazing internet reference sites created by some guy (okay, Matthew White). Lots of fascinating, incredibly researched stuff: complete lists of all manmade megadeaths in the 20th century, the 100 most important works of art of the 20th century, maps showing changes in the types of government by decade, comments on Wikipedia, and much more. Also, some fun stuff, like what the US would look like if every secessionist movement succeeded. Previously posted in 2001, but much updated and worth a second look

+WAR +Iraq Poster Exhibit

billsaysthis — Sun, 26 Dec 2004 12:31:54 -0800

+WAR +Iraq Poster Exhibit Graphic designers from multiple political POVs collaborate, and the gallery is up to 17 pages of thumbnalish posters since March, 2003. [via jennet.radio]

from guns to art

amberglow — Sat, 25 Dec 2004 19:32:08 -0800

Peace Art Project Cambodia --turning the detrius of war into art, in hopes of a more peaceful future. More info here, and here. "You can't help but think about what this machine has done to affect so many lives." And that is really the point. These sculptures are political art at its most powerful - relics of a violent past transformed into expressions of hope for a more peaceful future.

First Lady Fights Back!

matteo — Wed, 04 Aug 2004 10:11:11 -0800

"Hi. My name is Tony Kushner, I'm a playwright ...Ladies and Gentlemen and Supporters of MoveOn: the first lady of the United States, Laura Welch Bush". About a year and a half ago Kushner, the Pulitzer-prize winning author of Angels in America, published the first act of a new play, Only We Who Guard The Mystery Shall Be Unhappy (full text). In it, Laura Bush reads Dostoyevsky to a classroom full of ghosts of dead Iraqi children. Now, (in Salon, I know, I know) the first lady metacriticizes Kushner's play. (more inside)

Get Your Bowl On

rcade — Fri, 23 Apr 2004 07:42:01 -0800

London designers Steve Mosley and Dominic Wilcox present War Bowls. The conglomeration of warriors melted together in agonizing shapes could be taken as a statement of some kind.

War Rugs

me3dia — Tue, 10 Feb 2004 09:02:44 -0800

War Rugs woven by Afghanis often depict tanks, planes and guns, but a new set of imagery has appeared recently: the WTC in flames. More in this Forbes article.

20 days in spring 2003

specialk420 — Thu, 29 May 2003 18:45:16 -0800

20 days in Spring 2003 one artists response to 20 days in spring 2003 that have reshaped the world we live in.