$5,787.03

Let's start with a bang:








Statement:

This is the start of a very ambitious participatory project entitled "One Second of War". The amount of '$5,787.03' represents the amount of money, approximately, going towards the funding of the "Global War on Terror" every single second. The changing fonts and colors for each consecutive image represent a new amount of money for each second. The images themselves are found images of war, and all that it encapsulates and affects: our own economic conditions, the lives of foreign citizens caught in the crossfire, the simulacrum or the 'spectacle' most US citizens don't just choose to escape into, but are conditioned to do so. These images will eventually be the basis for a website, where they will be animated to change every second. I will invite others to submit their own images with fonts and colors of their choosing. They will then be added to the larger body of work continually and often. And as I further add my own, the sheer amount of the art will further emphasize the preposterous sum of money going towards the atrocity that is this "Global War on Terror". In this regard, this project is never 'finished' or 'complete' as long as the "War" itself goes on.

This project is not simply an exploration in juxtaposition, though it certainly plays an important role in the conceptual aspects of the piece. This project aims to weave a thread of correlation through all of the different areas of life that are affected by the gluttonous spending, that happens and has been happening for every second for over 7 years, with no signs of deterring. I also hope that this raises awareness of how hard earned American tax dollars are spent and at such an alarming rate and that this incites action towards preventing the continuance of what is shaping up to be the defining moment in our generation's legacy. Whether it is a moment of apathy or one of action is yet to be concluded, but the question itself is one that myself and others must continue to ask.

I'm really excited about this project and think it has the potential to 'work', at least relative to how I see it working.

The plan, thus far, is to have the website 'www.onesecondofwar.com' up and running (at least a BETA) sometime by mid summer. I will be sure to keep you updated on any further developments on the project.

You can see some of the larger images on my Deviantart site.