Abstract
There is nothing clean, comforting, easy, or organized about war. Even in its temporary conclusions, the prolonged pauses between the onslaught of shellfire and monotonous marching, are found trauma and maddening unrest. Those that survive its terrors are equalized, left to relive its ceaseless barrage of indiscriminating, violent introspection; death the only true consolation.
Directly inspired by Henri Barbusses’ Le Feu, this art work explores the post-war struggle of an American soldier of the first world war; his experiences on the battlefield seeping into his daily life, consuming him, holding him captive somewhere between the tumult of the trenches and the tedium of card punching and the family table.
As I read the first few paragraphs of Le Feu, I was moved, shaken, inspired, and uncomfortably aware of the graphic illustrations his descriptions were creating in my minds eye. I saw rolls of twisted wire; bloated, wounded, uniformed bodies caked in mud. I saw the cross-section of a flooded trench; its cavity offering a claustrophobic view of shattered bone, spent shells, and battlefield relics. From the perspective of this soldier, I saw the beginnings of La boue et l'eau.
Mixed media offered an unrestrained approach that was fundamental to successfully bringing the idea into more than just visual, something physical. The torn paper and corrugated cardboard brought a variety of colours and textures not possible through paint, ink, or pencil alone. Textures that were necessary to properly capture the raw aspects of the scene. The wood and wire brought a whole new layer of depth and terror; I did not anticipate its visual power or necessity to the story. The sharpie on glass helped to create an additional physical layer, adding to the overall depth of the scene, and sealing the soldier in a coffin, a time capsule, caught between that which could bring him comfort, and that which would destroy him.
Included in
The Mud and Water: The Impact of The Great War on a Soldier in the Trenches
There is nothing clean, comforting, easy, or organized about war. Even in its temporary conclusions, the prolonged pauses between the onslaught of shellfire and monotonous marching, are found trauma and maddening unrest. Those that survive its terrors are equalized, left to relive its ceaseless barrage of indiscriminating, violent introspection; death the only true consolation.
Directly inspired by Henri Barbusses’ Le Feu, this art work explores the post-war struggle of an American soldier of the first world war; his experiences on the battlefield seeping into his daily life, consuming him, holding him captive somewhere between the tumult of the trenches and the tedium of card punching and the family table.
As I read the first few paragraphs of Le Feu, I was moved, shaken, inspired, and uncomfortably aware of the graphic illustrations his descriptions were creating in my minds eye. I saw rolls of twisted wire; bloated, wounded, uniformed bodies caked in mud. I saw the cross-section of a flooded trench; its cavity offering a claustrophobic view of shattered bone, spent shells, and battlefield relics. From the perspective of this soldier, I saw the beginnings of La boue et l'eau.
Mixed media offered an unrestrained approach that was fundamental to successfully bringing the idea into more than just visual, something physical. The torn paper and corrugated cardboard brought a variety of colours and textures not possible through paint, ink, or pencil alone. Textures that were necessary to properly capture the raw aspects of the scene. The wood and wire brought a whole new layer of depth and terror; I did not anticipate its visual power or necessity to the story. The sharpie on glass helped to create an additional physical layer, adding to the overall depth of the scene, and sealing the soldier in a coffin, a time capsule, caught between that which could bring him comfort, and that which would destroy him.