A Sign of the Times - Art project my grandson chose this school year

[Mira]

He brought him to me for the summer, and he asked me to take good care of
his terrorist.



Looking at this breaks my heart.

[hootinholler]

1. How old is he? n/t

[Mira]

2. He is 16 - he and I

have been to Washington twice to protest *Bush* in large protest marches, and then took the red eye special bus to the inauguration.

[StrongBad]

3. That's a pretty provacative work for a 16 year old.

Well done!

[hootinholler]

4. It really does make the statement doesn't it?

I don't think it would be improved if it was 'refined' by being more defined.

A very nice impactful abstract sculpture with heart.

-Hoot

OnEdit: missing adverbs

[Towlie]

5. I agree with StrongBad, it could mean a lot of things. It's very intriguing.

[Mira]

6. To him it is a statement of being devastated and

furious about what was done in his name.

[Kaleko]

24. Tell him it's a tremendously powerful

piece of art. It should be exhibited where many people can see it and reflect on what America has become.

Thanks for posting this, Mira. The image is now seared into my mind.

[Mnemosyne]

7. Breaks my heart also, Mira, that a kid would have reason to create this piece.

Give him a :hug: from me.

[chill_wind]

8. K & R, Mira. I shudder to think of the art we may see some day from Iraqi children

and youth his age.

And THEIR descendants.

[alfredo]

17. look at the link

http://www.iraqichildrensart.org/gallery/?topic=2001

http://iraqichildrensart.org/

[chill_wind]

22. Thank you for the link. That appears to be a wonderful project.

My heart breaks for these children. No matter how resilient, those lucky enough to survive these years of devastation and carnage, the fate of far too many of their families and neighbors, will never, ever be the same.

[alfredo]

25. PTSD is forever.

[alfredo]

9. the kid has talent.

[EFerrari]

10. No kidding. That's amazing.

[alfredo]

13. It reminds me of the crucifixion.

[EFerrari]

16. The Crucifixion, Pinocchio & the Abu Ghraib photos.

The wooden body exceeds the stand, too, so the body is too largely human and dehumanized at the same time.

[alfredo]

19. It reminded me of this poor fellow.

[EFerrari]

26. It gets harder and harder to look at these photographs.

I saw part of Torturing Democracy on Friday night -- it's on line. That position was widely used and countless people chained that way had no choice but to collapse as this man has in the photograph.

[alfredo]

27. Being forced to stand is a form of torture.

[chill_wind]

23. It did me,as well.

eom

[Tangerine LaBamba]

20. He sure does -

that's a remarkable and evocative work.

Nice work, Mira. .........................

[Beam Me Up]

11. Iconic art for our time.

And it is art. I'm a full time artist, not easily impressed. This is great work!

[alfredo]

14. I have seen the crucifixion depicted in many ways. Though that may not

have been his intent, it carries the same power.

[Mira]

15. Thank you BeamMeUp, he is a student at the UNCSchool of the Arts, first year

High School, Visual Arts curriculum. To have been accepted was a tremendous achievement. If you get in then your High School tuition, room and board and books are free.
We are proud - and he got an A on this project of his.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

12. Most excellent

and very sad.

But as someone who has arranged several galleries - I can say, that this piece is provocative --- Making people "THINK" is often the job of a good artist.

Well done.

[ContinentalOp]

18. Wow that's really great! -nt-

[dixiegrrrrl]

21. That takes my breath away. All sorts of thoughts and feelings come up for me.

You have given your grandson a positive spin on the phrase "Family Values".
In your case, artist and activist at such a young age, and talented to boot.


Good on the both of you!!

[chill_wind]

28. Our hope lies in our children and grandchildren like yours

who are brave enough to seek and confront truth. No amount of healing or understanding or restitution can ever even begin to happen until we see it spoken unvarnished. Your grandchild's art work speaks courageously.

[ColbertWatcher]

29. Wow. k+r, n/t

[mimitabby]

30. wow, Mira,

i didn't know you had a grandson!

[Mira]

32. And I did not know you would get so famous this fast. Cogratulations on your

NYTimes interview and front page placement today.
I have that grandson and another adopted one. As the littler one was learning to read I found him studying all my anti Bush stickers on my trucks tailgate.
He turned to me and said, couldn't you just write in really big letters:
"I hate George Bush"?

[Cybergata]

31. My first thought was . . .

Christ on a Cross. This is a great piece and thank you for sharing it with us.

[bridgit]

33. Very immediate and straight forward, easy to see as part of a visual opus

[JeffR]

34. K & R! It IS heartbreaking, but it's also very powerful.

It's a human response to inhuman acts, and a very profound one.

[kentuck]

35. You have quite an artistic grandson.

:-)

[chill_wind]

36. One last kick. n/t