I came across this disturbing and important piece of work from a British design collective in Manchester called Dorothy. They have done a Casualties of War series creating a series of plastic toy soldiers and veterans in uniform. These “toys” are not playthings and are difficult to look at – as they should be. Especially in light of both the U.K. and United States having this bad habit of sending men and women off to war and neglecting their needs when they return. I can’t imagine Tony Blair’s kids play with toys like these.
In addition, Dorothy’s site also has a piece that is a take off on the game Twister. This time it’s called Blast Off and confronts players with the consequences of land mines.
The Casualties of War need a showing in San Francisco. They would be ideally shown with Al Farrow’s reliquaries built out of recycled weaponry. There is one on view at the de Young and the di Rosa Preseve as well as a current show at the Catherine Clark Gallery.
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