4000th US Soldier, “Subduing the Korengal Valley”, Djerassi Residency, CA, March 23 – April 5, 2008
4000th US Soldier, “Subduing the Korengal Valley” is a durational installation and photographs.
While at Djerassi Artist Residency I read the Sunday NY Times online magazine article called “Subduing the Korengal Valley” published on March 23, 2008. This essay documents the death of the 4000th US soldier to die on active duty in Afghanistan/Iraq. US soldiers nickname the Korengal Valley as "The Valley of Death". I was disturbed by the official death toll reported as only 4000 soldiers. I had previously read an extensive article in Vanity Fair estimating 18,000 soldiers had already died, largely by suicide after returning home from Afghanistan. The chasm between the official death toll whilst in the war zone vs. from trauma and the inability to adjust to American society was staggering. The real cost of war is willfully hidden and under reported.
Images of wounded US Soldiers appeared next to Banner Ads featuring ads of real estate, steak and employment opportunities at home in America. What shocked me was how cavalier the ad placements were; utterly tone-deaf when placed next to the brutality of the images of our fellow citizens; maimed, mutilated and injured American soldiers. I photographed the online pages; capturing these moments in time for posterity. The reality is the war is off shore and does not occupy much mental space in the mind of the American population. There is no draft and the advances in medicine save so many more lives than it could during the Vietnam war, compared to the 282,000 soldiers lost.
A corner in the Djerassi studio allowed me to make a durational installation where I hammered in 4000 nails in an exponential progression formation. It took me a week of constant hammering to complete this work. I also removed the 4000 nails leaving the void and scale of our collective loss.
4000th US Soldier, “Subduing the Korengal Valley”, at Djerassi, CA, 2008
4000th US Soldier, “Subduing the Korengal Valley, at Djerassi Artist Residency, CA, March 23 – April 5, 2008
“Bed of Nails” & Carpet of Nails, Can of Worms”, 4032 nails, 32 x 64 x 1”, photographs, video
Credits
Michelle Jaffé
“Bed of Nails” & Carpet of Nails, Can of Worms”, 2008, durational installation