The War Rug Project at GRAM/Art Prize 2011

Making The War Rug Project installation at the Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) is comprised of 3 framed monoprints of the Silk Road War Rug monoprints from 2006 (right), three original war rugs (left), a book, cards and the newly made 9/11 War Rug on a platform. Two of the original rugs are 9/11 war rugs, and one dates from the Soviet occupation in the early 1980s. That carpet is the larger one on the right, and it was the inspiration for the Silk Road prints. Oh yes, and that's me in the middle, working away with the spices. It was surprisingly moving to methodically render the twin towers, their windows, the jets and explosions in spices. It was a relief to make the flags and peace dove, with their big flat planes of color. And especially liberating to be able to make the aircraft carrier and the jets queuing up, all of which seemed quite free-form. Of course I wondered what the weavers thought about the images they were slowly making. The explosions have become flattened and abstracted and the words, originally in English describing the events of 9/11, are long obliterated, as the pattern has been repeated for a decade by weavers who could never read them in the first place. You can see the day-by-day progress here. And read about the 9/11 rugs here. photo by Dianne Carroll Burdick.

Finishing The completed spice installation, Sept 11, 2011 "Twin Towers- Tribute Rug Carpet-9/11 2001- USA History" was completed on the morning of Sunday, September 11, 2011 at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. It is named after the title of the original war rug's Ebay listing. The spice installation took about 6 days to make, and It was great to be able to build it while the museum was open, and have many conversations with people while I was making it. Lots of questions about the origin of the patterns, the spices used (the blue is colored sugar), how the prints are made, and what keeps it there (gravity!). The finishing touch was to place the firecracker fringe border that Tim made underneath. Wonderful enthusiasm from the security staff, who are now very concerned that something will happen to the artwork. They are correct! I was there for the first impact, when a little boy dropped his toy onto it. Oops! But, the imperfection lets the rug reveal itself for what it really is. Spices. We will pull prints of the installation on the last day of the show, Sunday October 9 at 2:00 pm. Join us! photo by John Corriveau