a political piece

Here is a mixed media piece that I did purely to vent my frustrations with
the current political environment in this country. It's pretty literal and
I don't usually work in this way. But it helped me to release some pent up
anger and feelings of helplessness. Before I began this piece I wanted to
address what I called "The amnesia of America". I get so mad when I listen
to the Bush administration lie and lie again and again and it doesn't
matter!!! I really don't get it. And the public (or the media) just
accepts it. Besides current events, there are plenty of other issues in
this country that people seem to conveniently forget or turn a blind eye
to. For example, racism. I've heard people say that racism is not an
issue anymore. Huh? What country do these people live in? And the civil
rights movement was not too long ago! It was only 40 years ago when people
of color had to sit in the back of the bus. Recently the Young Republicans
at Berkeley (could be another school, but for sure it was in CA) had a bake
sale mocking affirmative action. I can't remember the exact numbers but if
you were Native American you could buy a cookie for 5 cents. Latino and
African American, 25 cents. Caucasian, $1.00. You get the idea. How
disgusting!
Anyway....I collaged a bunch of articles and photos from the newspaper on
current events that particularly irk, sadden, and/or frustrate me. Then I
painted the flag on top of the collage. And then I added a pencil drawing
of myself. Duct taped my mouth and blindfolded my eyes.
Censorship is unamerican. But it seems to be becoming the new american way
of life.
~bridgette