Sandbags

This work consists of 99 sandbags.   The sandbags are made out of fabric panels, 12 per bag, which alternate between several patterns.   The main pattern is similar to tiger-stripe camouflage, used jungle warfare during the Vietnam War.   Of the two secondary patterns, the first is a series of portraits of men.   These portraits were created from images found at the FBI Most Wanted Terrorist website. These eight men remain, to this day, wanted.   The second pattern on the bags derives from a textile of Indians in combat, with some simple alterations.   These additions use the original motif to create a landscape of mortal peril.   The bags are filled with local fill material, typically corn, tied at the top through grommets, and stacked as a barrier.

Sandbags is an installation work that opens a dialog on the threat of terrorism in the United States.   A key point in this work is the ethnicity of the wanted men, as one of the repercussions of tightened security in the United States escalated a wave of discrimination and fear concerning skin color, religion, and origin. The potential for large scale violence is present whether the war on terror is a success or failure, and this work is a representation of the shifting and makeshift territory of American borders.