Detail of the composite image with 58,300 names of American casualties from the Vietnam War.
A visual response to a research paper I wrote during my MA at London College of Communication. The project looked at the Vietnam War and its visual representation in popular culture and mainstream media. My research focused on what has been called the Gulf of Tonkin incident; an alleged attack by three North Vietnamese torpedo boats on the American warship the USS Maddox on August 2, 1964. Making a visual work after writing an academic research paper might not be the usual way of doing things, but the research itself inspired me and gave the piece of work its final format for the exhibition. This work is about looking and all that it entails. Whether we look closely or from a distance; with a filter or in layers; in fragments or as presented within a given frame. Whatever choice of looking we end up with, it is in the act of having to look again that I am interested.
After writing my paper I became aware of the rich pool of work that had been produced for London College of Communication and decided to get a space and organise an exhibition showcasing as much of it as the means would allow. In my blog I give more details about the exhibition.
Half of the image seen with the glasses provided as part of the installation.
The print is 2.50 m. wide by 1.80 m. tall. The image is one of the photos used by the United States to escalate the war.
Half of the image seen with the glasses provided as part of the installation.