Artist Statement
Privileged Thieves
Carter McQuinn, Harley Farkas, Lucius Anthony
Plywood and 2x4’s
April 2017
Our artwork depicts the unfair advantage that some people had over others in the Vietnam War draft. The images and artwork on the scale show the brutal reality that many unfortunate people experienced versus the more privileged. We used the photographs to emphasize the divide. On one side the lower class is represented by photos of rough neighborhoods and grimy looking people, on the other side photos of nice houses and neighborhoods. We also have pictures of people in college, people with children, and people with medical problems. Some other pictures of regular teenagers in regular neighborhoods waiting for their draft medical exam. A cardboard box with rusty metal covering it is used to represent one side of the social scale and a shiny silver box to represent the other. We created our art out of wood, paint, screws, pictures and a few small items to help represent each side. We built a scale out of wood and a hinge. We made a base out of two squares of plywood at a 90 degree angle and braced them with two triangles of a 2x4. These pictures depict the unfair advantages the more privileged had versus a middle class citizens. Many famous people such as Donald Trump, Dick Cheney, and George Bush all dodged the draft because of their higher class and parents. On our upper wood block we have a line representing the chances of getting drafted and the more or less items you put in the shiny side of the scale the higher or lower the scale moves representing chances you have of getting drafted.
We wanted to chose a topic that could relate to us. We felt like getting drafted into the Vietnam War and the unfair advantages some people had over others was relatable because of our age. With Donald Trump in office and the controversial decisions he’s making, there could be a possibility of World War 3 and if that were to happen then then we could be drafted. The three of us, Lucius, Carter, and Harley, decided to represent the imbalance we see by building a scale that displays the unfair advantages some people had over others. We built the scale and brought in small items torepresent each sides lifestyles. Some items express the more privileged side while other items represent the less fortunate side. We painted the stand the scale stood on and Mod Podged some pictures on to represent each side. All objects in this art piece relate back to our main topic.
The truth we are trying to represent and explain in our piece is that during the draft for the Vietnam War it was much easier for the wealthy, higher-class people to get out of the draft than it was for poorer people. We thought that the scale was the best way to represent it, using a scale because fundamentally that's what a scale represents, an imbalance. We researched this topic we found that there were quite a few people who had rich parents or parents in the government and used this to get out of the draft. For example, Donald Trump was able to avoid the draft for the Vietnam War multipletimes so we printed out one of his draft deferments as more evidence. For this art piece our goal was to represent the idea of class-based draft preference in the Vietnam War. We have pictures of nice houses and shiny things on one side and on the other there are pictures of beaten up neighborhoods to represent the less fortunate people and signify the gap between them.
Carter McQuinn, Harley Farkas, Lucius Anthony
Plywood and 2x4’s
April 2017
Our artwork depicts the unfair advantage that some people had over others in the Vietnam War draft. The images and artwork on the scale show the brutal reality that many unfortunate people experienced versus the more privileged. We used the photographs to emphasize the divide. On one side the lower class is represented by photos of rough neighborhoods and grimy looking people, on the other side photos of nice houses and neighborhoods. We also have pictures of people in college, people with children, and people with medical problems. Some other pictures of regular teenagers in regular neighborhoods waiting for their draft medical exam. A cardboard box with rusty metal covering it is used to represent one side of the social scale and a shiny silver box to represent the other. We created our art out of wood, paint, screws, pictures and a few small items to help represent each side. We built a scale out of wood and a hinge. We made a base out of two squares of plywood at a 90 degree angle and braced them with two triangles of a 2x4. These pictures depict the unfair advantages the more privileged had versus a middle class citizens. Many famous people such as Donald Trump, Dick Cheney, and George Bush all dodged the draft because of their higher class and parents. On our upper wood block we have a line representing the chances of getting drafted and the more or less items you put in the shiny side of the scale the higher or lower the scale moves representing chances you have of getting drafted.
We wanted to chose a topic that could relate to us. We felt like getting drafted into the Vietnam War and the unfair advantages some people had over others was relatable because of our age. With Donald Trump in office and the controversial decisions he’s making, there could be a possibility of World War 3 and if that were to happen then then we could be drafted. The three of us, Lucius, Carter, and Harley, decided to represent the imbalance we see by building a scale that displays the unfair advantages some people had over others. We built the scale and brought in small items torepresent each sides lifestyles. Some items express the more privileged side while other items represent the less fortunate side. We painted the stand the scale stood on and Mod Podged some pictures on to represent each side. All objects in this art piece relate back to our main topic.
The truth we are trying to represent and explain in our piece is that during the draft for the Vietnam War it was much easier for the wealthy, higher-class people to get out of the draft than it was for poorer people. We thought that the scale was the best way to represent it, using a scale because fundamentally that's what a scale represents, an imbalance. We researched this topic we found that there were quite a few people who had rich parents or parents in the government and used this to get out of the draft. For example, Donald Trump was able to avoid the draft for the Vietnam War multipletimes so we printed out one of his draft deferments as more evidence. For this art piece our goal was to represent the idea of class-based draft preference in the Vietnam War. We have pictures of nice houses and shiny things on one side and on the other there are pictures of beaten up neighborhoods to represent the less fortunate people and signify the gap between them.
Truth of war reflection
For this project we started off with the cold war and studied about that, then we started reading the book called the things they carried which was probably what i took the most from because it wasn't a normal book in the sense that it wasn't just one big long story, it was a long book but with a whole bunch of stories mixed into the book itself. It really engaged me into the book which usually is very hard for me to stay on task with a book and nun the less comprehend it. I think the main reason I understood and took things away from this project is because our teacher ally did a very good job at making us engaged in this project because she did such a good job at making us want to learn about it and understand it, she even came up with a few games to make us understand better what and how this was was going on.
I strengthened my skills this project in the sense that it was one of the first times that I have actually stayed on task and spread out my work time throughout the project instead of postponing it to the last minute and having sloppy and pressured work. Me and my friends carter and harley worked on this project as a group and we all thought that we would need to be pressuring each other into working all the time but instead we were all surprised at the work that we all were willing to put into it without having to work on it last minute or not finish it.
One of the biggest things that I will take away from this project is trying my best to work my hardest and figure out a way to always work with the time that I have instead of postponing whatever work I have till the last minute. That is probably what I am most proud of for this project, is that me, carter and harley were able to come up with a good idea for our project and represent it in a different and personal way.
I strengthened my skills this project in the sense that it was one of the first times that I have actually stayed on task and spread out my work time throughout the project instead of postponing it to the last minute and having sloppy and pressured work. Me and my friends carter and harley worked on this project as a group and we all thought that we would need to be pressuring each other into working all the time but instead we were all surprised at the work that we all were willing to put into it without having to work on it last minute or not finish it.
One of the biggest things that I will take away from this project is trying my best to work my hardest and figure out a way to always work with the time that I have instead of postponing whatever work I have till the last minute. That is probably what I am most proud of for this project, is that me, carter and harley were able to come up with a good idea for our project and represent it in a different and personal way.