Jamie Griffiths – WAR
War Introduction | SOMArts Gallery View | Thumbnail/Index Page
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I die for you – 2005
digital print – 16″ x 20″ |
Painting Peace (video) – 2005
still image from video |
Jamie Griffiths
I am a queer artist with a history of exhibitions and publications in Canada and internationally.
Although my focus has shifted now to live performance work and themes of Spirituality, I spent 1999-2002 exploring my feelings of war and was able to visit and film in Bosnia and the Middle East (Bosnia, Israel, Turkey, Bahrain and Oman) on tour with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts embedded in the US military. I felt like an ‘art-spy’ with the temporary rank of a private, and sanctioned by the US military and even though I am not a US citizen, I was able to ride in helicopters, tanks and warships, and observe firsthand the phenomenon of ‘fighting’ for one’s country… This profoundly affected me, and helped to round out my beliefs about state-sanctioned killing, personal identity and war.
