ALMS - ARMS SERIES

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Surplus to Requirements, 2009

Enamelled glass, kiln formed
2000 mm High x 450 mm W x600 mm D
Surplus to Requirements The life of a prisoner of war is expendable The surrender of one army force to another can be a negotiation comparable with a business agreement. The senior officer of an Australian military group explained to the Japanese prison commander that a soldier could not be moved from the hospital to the main camp as he had been blinded, lost both hands and was unable to walk. The commander agreed that the prisoner presented logistical difficulties so offered to execute him immediately.

Mother and Child - Sierra Leone, 2009

Enamelled glass, kiln formed
2000 mm High x 500 mm W x600 mm D
Mother and Child – Sierra Leone Generations of victims The rebel forces in the 1991-2002 civil war used amputation with machete as a tactic. Mothers had both arms hacked off so that they could no longer pick up their babies. The babies suffer the absence of maternal contact alongside the mothers’ physical and psychological loss.

Miss Landmine, 2009

Enamelled glass, kiln formed
2000 mm High x 450 mm W x600 mm D
Miss Landmine The victim as survivor The Miss Landmine competition exists. Unsurprisingly controversial, it has been awarded in Angola and will be soon in Cambodia. Some feel that it exploits women and/or landmine victims. Regardless of those concerns it exposes many to the reality of landmines in many countries. The entrants’ documentation includes the type of mine, manufacturer, country of origin and cost. For the modest sum of 15 Euro a life can be destroyed

Call Me, 2009

enamelled kiln formed glass
2000 mm High x 450 mm W x600 mm D
Call Me The attacker as victim What brings a person to a state of accepting the role of suicide bomber? Might he/she also be considered a victim? The torturing and humiliation of political prisoners is more a recipe for breeding terrorism than preventing it. To be naked while being tortured might be the ultimate terror. Suicide bombers are sometimes equipped with a mobile phone, the calling of which detonates the bomb should the wearer hesitate. Recently an Afghani suicide bomber wore explosives in his artificial legs. Was he in turn a victim of a landmine placed by the ‘other side’?