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After going to the State of Emergency exhibition I found myself entranced with the various works of art that were displayed. One in particular that struck me was the exhibit labeled Notepad. This piece created by Matt Kenyon was both eye opening and thought provoking. Initially when walking through the exhibition I glanced over this area thinking that it was mere station where you could jot down notes and receive information about the other pieces in the exhibition. After reproaching the table I began to read the information card that explained the piece and was immediately struck by the power behind the art. The table was filled with about 50 legal yellow notepads and a TV screen with a businessman at a table in a white background. The shocking part about this seemly plain exhibit was that the lines of each notepad were actually composed of the names, dates and locations of each Iraqi civilian who died (on record) between the first three years of the Iraq War (2003-2006).
The disaster that Matt Kenyon is reacting too is the tragedy of the deaths of innocent civilians as a result of the first years in the Iraq War. In March of 2003 under the Bush administration America invaded Iraq. Anticipating a quick execution both Bush and his administration underestimated the preparation of the Iraqi troops. General Tommy Franks was quoted laying the seven goals of the American invasion into Iraq,
“First, end the regime of Saddam Hussein. Second, to identify, isolate and eliminate Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. Third, to search for, to capture and to drive out terrorists from that country. Fourth, to collect such intelligence as we can related to terrorist networks. Fifth, to collect such intelligence as we can related to the global network of illicit weapons of mass destruction. Sixth, to end sanctions and to immediately deliver humanitarian support to the displaced and to many needy Iraqi citizens. Seventh, to secure Iraq’s oil fields and resources, which belong to the Iraqi people. And last, to help the Iraqi people create conditions for a transition to a representative self-government.”
General Franks (lengthy) quote is a clear example of what the goals were in invading Iraq, while the result may have proven to be more detrimental. In a detailed account of deaths from 2003-2005 published by Iraq Body Count totaled 24,865. In Kenyon’s display he not only has the names but the location and date of where people were killed. This total number consisted of 20% women and children and almost half of the deaths were recorded to have been in Baghdad and occurred in the first two years of the initial invasion. The disaster (or tragedy) of this invasion was that 37% of civilian victims were a result of US forces. The other large percentage came about from post invasion criminal violence. (1)
This exhibit was very powerful and can be used to create a very convincing argument against the efforts of war. Not only were these notepads on display at Davidson College, but also were distributed at Capitol Hill. These legal pads were put within other supplies and given to those people who would impact the efforts of war. This piece reflected the tragedy of war and the innocent lives that were taken. War causalities can be hidden as something that is “out of sight out of mind”. The argument that Kenyon is making and can be applied to other similar arguments, that people in power must be careful of the choices that they make and question, do the benefits of going to war outweigh the costs of the thousands of lives lost as a result? The power of the notepad on Capitol Hill represents the jotting down of ideas and the plan and formulas created for events like invasions or bombings. While people at Capital Hill are writing down their agendas, they are also writing on the lines of the people that were affected by the decisions of some of their colleagues. Kenyon wants to create “Trojan horse” of thought in an attempt to save the disasters of war.
Any war can be considered a disaster, as there are the many tragedies of war that are involved. What made this particular piece of art thought provoking and an argument against modern warfare and the “accidental” deaths of innocent civilians as a result of war. Every life is holy and sacred; to take away a life is the largest form of a disaster. Disaster by war can be categorized as a manmade, one that is not natural and can be prevented. The purpose of Kenyon’s art is to put people in an uncomfortable position of realizing the magnitude of the civilian deaths in the Iraq war and to help prevent another war like this by alerting government officials who can make a difference.
(1). Sloboda, John. “A Dossier of Civilian Casualties in Iraq .” Iraq Body Count. IBC, 19 Jul 2005. Web. 24 Jan 2014. <http://www.iraqbodycount.org/analysis/reference/press-releases/12/>.