Warbirds

For most of us, war is something that happens to other people in other places. But technology allows us to witness war, thousands of miles away but seemingly first hand, in the comfort of our own homes. The very place in which we traditionally seek sanctuary is also the place which is 'invaded' by war. Witnessing the Iraq War on TV raised an awareness of the contradiction of watching war macho, feral and destructive - in the home familiar and comfortable.

Graphic illustrations of combat have been depicted throughout the ages, from Greek vase painting to Leonardo, Goya and Picasso. Hi-tech fighter jets are at the same time beautiful, sexy, and devastatingly and clinically lethal. To camouflage is to disguise or deceive. Fighter jets are not camouflaged because of their ability to strike from a safe distance.

By camouflaging objects that represent the essence of Western waged warfare with benign, domesticated foliage, Beven suggests that as voyeurs of bloody and armed conflicts we are unwittingly implicated.

www.lorenbeven.com

Postscript

MISSING - presumed stolen, nine weapons of mass destruction...

Loren Beven's sculptures were stolen half way through the exhibition.