Another month, another inspiring sculpture. Several of you told me that last month’s spoke to you in a profound way. This makes my work as an artist worthwhile.
This month I have selected a piece from my Rosecrans Project, An Unnatural But All Too Common Beginning. The idea behind the project that art can help us cope with events seemingly beyond our rational control seems pertinent in these times of COVID shutdown.Also, since this series was only exhibited once in its entirety at the Louden Center in Santa Cruz, most of your have probably not seen them in person and a thought a focus on this piece might interest you in pursuing the project in greater detail on my website https://burkhart-sculptor.com/rosecrans/rosecrans-8/.
An Unnatural But All Too Common Beginning
The story of this piece, like all the sculptures in the Rosecrans series, begins in late Fall of 2002. At the time, the largest anti-war protests in history were taking place all over the world in response to US plans for military action in Iraq.
When a naming session for the sculpture pictured below resulted in the title Passing of the Warrior Class, it occurred to me that human consciousness might finally be reaching a point when war would no longer make sense (due in part to global connections forged by mass media).
At the same time, I’d become increasingly convinced – over 15 years of working with my images – that the intuitively derived insights artists access through their work could play a role in helping solve seemingly intractable human problems that don’t lend themselves to rational analysis. So I decided to find a way for my art to investigate the question, “How do we get past war?”
With this in mind, I began to visit the Rosecrans Military Cemetery in San Diego. There, I sketched on 14 separate occasions in 2003, next to graves of soldiers who died in each of the wars this country has fought, asking the question, “How do we get past war?” Little did I know at the time, I would eventually sketch alongside the graves of soldiers who had just died in Iraq.
An Unnatural But All Too Common Beginning was #8 in the series, sketched on May 4, 2003 beside the graves of:
Jorge Alonso Gonzalez, Marine
Died at age 21.5 on the 5th Day of the Iraq War
&
Devon Dimilo Jones, US. Army
Died at age 20.5 on 17th day of the Iraq War
In this powerful image, the figure in the center covers his head as what looks like either a tree or an exploding bomb weighs on his conscience. The figure appears to be under both heavy pressure and pain.
Meanwhile, a bird sings happily to the side, a gentle deer observes from below, and a one-armed, stylized, feminine figure bears witness.
To me, this piece seems connected with both war and climate change – problems resulting from misguided human actions.
Like many of the images from the Rosecrans series, a certain childlike naïveté (of either innocence or – in this case – not wanting to face the music) emerges. After all, going to war is a very juvenile way to handle our disagreements, and massive industrialization ignores the consequences of disrupting the balance of the planet.
I hope you will think about the meaning this piece has for you regarding war, climate change, and perhaps even messages from the dead. I would love to hear your thoughts.
(For myself, this project completely changed my relationship with those who have passed.)
