Truth of War Project
Artist statement:
Privileged ThievesCarter McQuinn, Harley Farkas, Lucius Anthony
Plywood and 2x4’s
April 2017
Our artwork depicts the unfair advantage that some people had over others in the Vietnam War draft. The images and artwork on the scale depict the brutal reality many unfortunate people had versus the more fortunate people. The pictures that represent this are the pictures of the less fortunate neighborhoods and more fortunate neighborhoods. We also have pictures of people in college, people with children, and people with medical problems. Some other pictures of regular teenagers in regular neighborhoods waiting for their draft medical exam. We have a cardboard box with some rusty metal on it to represent one side of the scale and a shiny silver box on the other side. We created our art out of wood, paint, screws, pictures and a few small items to help represent each side. We built a scale out of wood and a hinge, we made a base out of two squares of plywood at a 90 degree angle and braced them with two triangles of a 2x4. These pictures depict the unfair advantages the more privileged had versus a middle class citizens. Many famous people such as Donald Trump, Dick Cheney, and George Bush all dodged the draft because of their higher class lifestyle. On our upper wood block we have a line representing the chances of getting drafted and the more items you put in the sale the higher or lower the chance you have of getting drafted.
To start off our group had to brainstorm an idea on what to do our project on. We wanted to chose a topic that could relate to us. We felt like getting drafted into the Vietnam War and the unfair advantages some people had over others. With Donald Trump in office and the controversial decisions he’s making, there could be a possibility of World War 3. If we happen to have another war our generation could have a chance at getting drafted. The three of us, Lucius, Carter, and Harley, decided to represent this by building a scale that displays the unfair advantages some people had over others. We built the scale and brought in small items that could represent each sides lifestyles. Some items represent the more privileged side and other items represent the less fortunate side. We painted the stand the scale stood on and Mod Podged some pictures on to represent each side. All objects in this art piece signify our main topic.
The truth we are trying to represent and explain in our piece is that during the draft for the Vietnam War it was much easier for the wealthy higher class people to get out of the draft than it was for poorer people. We thought that the scale was the best way to represent it, using a scale because that's what it really is, an imbalance. We researched this topic and found that there were quite a few people who had rich parents or parents in the government and used this to get out of the draft. For example, Donald Trump was able to avoid the draft for the Vietnam War multiple times so we have one of his draft deferments printed out as more evidence. For this art piece our goal was to represent that based on your class and wealth it was easier or harder to get drafted into the Vietnam War. We have pictures of nice houses and shiny things on one side and on the other there are pictures of beaten up neighborhoods to represent the less fortunate people.
Privileged ThievesCarter McQuinn, Harley Farkas, Lucius Anthony
Plywood and 2x4’s
April 2017
Our artwork depicts the unfair advantage that some people had over others in the Vietnam War draft. The images and artwork on the scale depict the brutal reality many unfortunate people had versus the more fortunate people. The pictures that represent this are the pictures of the less fortunate neighborhoods and more fortunate neighborhoods. We also have pictures of people in college, people with children, and people with medical problems. Some other pictures of regular teenagers in regular neighborhoods waiting for their draft medical exam. We have a cardboard box with some rusty metal on it to represent one side of the scale and a shiny silver box on the other side. We created our art out of wood, paint, screws, pictures and a few small items to help represent each side. We built a scale out of wood and a hinge, we made a base out of two squares of plywood at a 90 degree angle and braced them with two triangles of a 2x4. These pictures depict the unfair advantages the more privileged had versus a middle class citizens. Many famous people such as Donald Trump, Dick Cheney, and George Bush all dodged the draft because of their higher class lifestyle. On our upper wood block we have a line representing the chances of getting drafted and the more items you put in the sale the higher or lower the chance you have of getting drafted.
To start off our group had to brainstorm an idea on what to do our project on. We wanted to chose a topic that could relate to us. We felt like getting drafted into the Vietnam War and the unfair advantages some people had over others. With Donald Trump in office and the controversial decisions he’s making, there could be a possibility of World War 3. If we happen to have another war our generation could have a chance at getting drafted. The three of us, Lucius, Carter, and Harley, decided to represent this by building a scale that displays the unfair advantages some people had over others. We built the scale and brought in small items that could represent each sides lifestyles. Some items represent the more privileged side and other items represent the less fortunate side. We painted the stand the scale stood on and Mod Podged some pictures on to represent each side. All objects in this art piece signify our main topic.
The truth we are trying to represent and explain in our piece is that during the draft for the Vietnam War it was much easier for the wealthy higher class people to get out of the draft than it was for poorer people. We thought that the scale was the best way to represent it, using a scale because that's what it really is, an imbalance. We researched this topic and found that there were quite a few people who had rich parents or parents in the government and used this to get out of the draft. For example, Donald Trump was able to avoid the draft for the Vietnam War multiple times so we have one of his draft deferments printed out as more evidence. For this art piece our goal was to represent that based on your class and wealth it was easier or harder to get drafted into the Vietnam War. We have pictures of nice houses and shiny things on one side and on the other there are pictures of beaten up neighborhoods to represent the less fortunate people.
Project reflection:
1. How did we explore the truth of war in this project?
The way that we explored the truth of war in doing this project was in a few steps. We started by researching the Vietnam war and the gulf of Tonkin incident. We were given a bunch of papers covering information about the Vietnam war, phone conversations from important people at the time such as presidents and political people. There were also articles from both sides opinions on the situation and our goal was to find out who's fault the gulf of Tonkin incident was. We then took this information and had a timed write where we used what we had read about to make a claim on whose fault the incident was and whether the Gulf of Tonkin incident was a reasonable response from the US side.
2. How did you strengthen your skills during this project?
The skills that I feel I strengthened the most in this project was thinking. When the project was first explained to me I had no idea what I was going to do for the project. The reason that I think my thinking skills were helped is because I wanted to do something different. I was looking at all the other projects from the students the year before and they were good but they were all paintings or drawings. During idea critique everyone was saying they were going to do some sort of drawing or painting and I wanted to do something different. I realized after this that one art medium that I am decent at and enjoy doing is building. Whether it is sculpting or wood working or other such things I enjoy doing them. I thought about this for a while and figured out how I was going to do my art piece. The reason that I feel thinking was a skill I used a lot was because I went through a lot of different ideas and eventually thought of one that I think was really cool.
3. What enduring understandings will you take away form the project?
I think that the understanding that I learned from this project and what I will remember the most is the brutality of war. We read a book called The Things They Carried and it had stories from a few peoples perspectives who were in the Vietnam War and this helped me think about all the bad things that happen. The veterans also came in to talk to us and I learned a few things from this. The other thing that really helped me learn from this was seeing everybody else's projects and realizing all the different perspectives on the war and all the art pieces showing the damage and stuff that the war caused.
1. How did we explore the truth of war in this project?
The way that we explored the truth of war in doing this project was in a few steps. We started by researching the Vietnam war and the gulf of Tonkin incident. We were given a bunch of papers covering information about the Vietnam war, phone conversations from important people at the time such as presidents and political people. There were also articles from both sides opinions on the situation and our goal was to find out who's fault the gulf of Tonkin incident was. We then took this information and had a timed write where we used what we had read about to make a claim on whose fault the incident was and whether the Gulf of Tonkin incident was a reasonable response from the US side.
2. How did you strengthen your skills during this project?
The skills that I feel I strengthened the most in this project was thinking. When the project was first explained to me I had no idea what I was going to do for the project. The reason that I think my thinking skills were helped is because I wanted to do something different. I was looking at all the other projects from the students the year before and they were good but they were all paintings or drawings. During idea critique everyone was saying they were going to do some sort of drawing or painting and I wanted to do something different. I realized after this that one art medium that I am decent at and enjoy doing is building. Whether it is sculpting or wood working or other such things I enjoy doing them. I thought about this for a while and figured out how I was going to do my art piece. The reason that I feel thinking was a skill I used a lot was because I went through a lot of different ideas and eventually thought of one that I think was really cool.
3. What enduring understandings will you take away form the project?
I think that the understanding that I learned from this project and what I will remember the most is the brutality of war. We read a book called The Things They Carried and it had stories from a few peoples perspectives who were in the Vietnam War and this helped me think about all the bad things that happen. The veterans also came in to talk to us and I learned a few things from this. The other thing that really helped me learn from this was seeing everybody else's projects and realizing all the different perspectives on the war and all the art pieces showing the damage and stuff that the war caused.