National Pastime
Again this month I am drawn to feature a work which seems to speak to the heart of our national inability to collaborate with our fellow citizens to reach sensible decisions about our civic needs. For this reason I have chosen another sculpture from my Rosecrans Series searching for a solution to war by consulting those who died in our past battles at the Rosecrans National Military Cemetary in San Diego.
The sketch for this piece, completed on Palm Sunday 2003, was done beside the grave of one of the first soldiers to die in the Iraq War, a valedictorian graduate of a lSan Diego area high school named: Brian Matthew Kennedy. This day was particularly significant for me in this project because up until this time I had been finding the graves of those who not only fought in our wars but those who had died. I had just read about Mr. Kenned’s death in the paper that day and decided that since this project was based on intuitive contact with the dead soldiers, it was time for me to use my intuition to locate his grave. At the time it was hard to find because the cemetery was nearly full and their was no order as to where they were now burying soldiers. Nevertheless, following my intuition I easily found the new grave.
This piece, completed in 2004, was later named at the Louden Center opening reception in Santa Cruz. Its appropriately represents the dedication to war and disagreement that we are now experiencing in our reactions with others. This is currently our national pastime only it should not be a game.
After completing the series I noticed the style of the images were different from my other work. After some thought, it came to me that what tied them together was juvenality. And then it struck me: war is a juvenile way to solve problems! It is both a game and a passion for many but ultimately does not work. Until children are able to sit down and “talk it out” their reactions remain ones of name calling or violence against those they are in conflict with and the disagreements escalate.
Let there be hope this month that we do not elect any more spoiled children to run our affairs. I urge you to vote for the country you believe in this month and the hope that civility can return to the classroom. We need a new national pastime.
