The United States’ Military Industrial Complex, its residual space and its socio-economic impact, is the focus of this project. In 1999, the US Department of the Navy contracted three incinerators in Texas and Louisiana to “process, recycle, and incinerate” their napalm bomb stockpile - a leftover from the Vietnam War, and its materials. The project calls into question the military’s legacy, including the Agent Orange-like dioxin created by incinerating napalm, as well as the intersecting histories of napalm bombs and Vietnamese migration to the US.
The information I gathered, including the title of the project, derives from the US Navy and is stenciled onto aluminum metal sheets–the bomb canisters’ material. Aluminum sheets, installed directly onto the windows of the museum, block out 2/3 of the view, combining the view of the California sky and the eucalyptus trees into the installation. Its aim is to revive the question the US Navy itself asks: “Where does it go from here?”
material: six windows (each 10 ft x 5 ft), aluminum sheet, wood, stencils, spray paint and patina.
Where does it go from here?
2000
mixed-media installation, dimensions variable
