DATUM
Suite of sixteen single digital C-prints, overall dimensions vary. 2008.
Click on an image to enlarge the view.
Datum is an art installation consisting of sixteen color photographs, each depicting close-up views of bound periodicals and journals in a Southern California public library. Plainly photographed, these books appear initially as an unobtrusive archive stored in the basement stacks of a library. Yet upon further analysis, the suggestive titles of these volumes disclose a brief history of the American military-industrial complex. Functioning on many levels, this piece forms a literal index of the language of militarism. At the same time it is an appropriation of this specific language to form a visual measure of time in the gallery, establishing an autobiographical narrative of war spanning the artist’s own lifetime. When situated within the context of the time-space disruption caused by the discontents of Capitalism, Datum serves as a discreet reminder of a very powerful but highly inconspicuous industry. The dialectic within Datum suggests war is a continuous engagement, spanning the life of at least one individual. If we then apply this knowledge with simple strategic models of business—the intent to create profit—and agree war as not a singular peripheral event, we must then ask the question of who benefits from any "Operation ____" or "The War on ____ ?"
