Drawing Attention Project

SOAPBOX Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, Sept 16-30, 2011

Digital photos, text on vellum

www.drawingattentionproject.com

Drawing Attention is a viewer driven installation that draws on audience participation to encourage projection and self-reflection in order to better consider the role, responsibilities, and consequences of being an American soldier. In the years since 9/11, we have transitioned from an event with direct resonance to our society, a connection to an act of war that happened here, to a war being waged at a distance. “Drawing Attention” obligates viewers to pay attention to those for whom this is a continued event. By considering hypothetical service in the military, participants were compelled to confront American complacency and bystander apathy towards the 10-year “war on terror”. The audience was asked to wear provided military gear and face their transformation in the mirror. Digital photos recorded each of these ‘soldiers’. The images were attached to strips of vellum and participants were invited to write below their photo, “If I were called to serve…” The photo/text pieces were arranged on-site during the course of the exhibition.