Bio:

The Way of the Gun

Justine Smith

In my artistic practice I have been working with money since 1998 and it only seems to become more relevant. The power invested in these pieces of paper is immense, and for me, it is like working with an elemental force which impacts upon us in a political, social and moral level. A banknote can be seen as a little piece of propaganda, a cipher portraying specific aspects of a given state. In my work I appropriate these images and re-contextualize them to my own ends. Money as a conduit of political power is a central theme and the work in this show explores the convergence of greed, corruption, conflict, the thirst for power and its consequences in a world of shifting new realities.

“The Way of the Gun” and the “Death Star” series elaborate on the themes of oppression and the abuse of power. A series of kaleidoscopic collages, intended to evoke a quasi - religious appearance of stained glass, a mandala or Islamic design, in fact reveal themselves to be formed of motifs of guns, bullets, grenades and military aircraft. The bank notes used in these pieces come from failed states, conflict zones, dictatorships, and oppressive regimes. The golden guns and bullets used in the collages are gilded with 23.5 carat gold leaf: the gold a pure form of currency as well as a source of conflict in itself. Underlying these works is a sense of illusion and ambiguity; the ordered and harmonious patterns juxtapose with violence and destruction being represented. These ideas are expanded in “Sweat of the Sun”, a work incorporating the same ornate patterns, but rendered just in gold leaf. The title refers to the Inca name for gold, the Sun being the most sacred of all deities, the source of all power.

The wielding of power by the state is explored in “The Judge”, “Instruments of State” sculptures and also in “Crowd Control”. “The Judge” expresses the idea of the US in its’ self - appointed role as the “world’s policeman” intervening in affairs of sovereign states and the impact of it’s foreign policies. The “Instruments of State” weapons sculptures are an ongoing series of works about the illusion of power. They appear to be solid objects, but are actually completely hollow, constructed from just two layers of banknotes.  The fact that they can be crushed in the palm of a hand questions the nature of power and suggests it may be more delicate and transient than at first appears, a fact illustrated by recent events in the Middle East. The “Crowd Control” series of collages underline this theory and also show the varied consequences of political opposition. The imagery used is a code, where the eyes are the eyes of the state, and the hands represent protest and the power of the people and the flowers are for the dead and disappeared.

“Enduring Loss” and “The Price” are both statements on the ultimate consequences of war on an individual - death. “Enduring Loss” is intended as a stark reminder of this fact and marks the anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan in Operation Enduring Freedom. The wreath is made from paper poppies sold by the Royal British Legion to raise funds to support members of the British Armed Forces. In the sculpture some of the original poppy paper has been replaced by Afghan banknotes.  The number of poppies that make up the wreath corresponds to the number of UK troop deaths since the start of the invasion. Any further deaths will mean the addition of more poppies until it is completed on 7^th October 2011, the 10^th anniversary of the War. All profits from the sale of the wreath are being donated to the Poppy Appeal. “The Price” is a protest for Peace: all the poppies have been replaced by international banknotes and have been incorporated into a floral funeral tribute spelling the word “Son” emphasising the universal human cost of conflict at it’s most fundamental level.