| Living in America is like living in a cocoon: warm, safe,
and completely oblivious to the rest of the world. Nothing remains in such a
state for long without drastic consequences. This illusion of the American
public was torn by the September 11th attacks; it is hard to ignore death
and destruction when it is on your doorstep. Yet the effect did not last,
and four years later a hurricane was able to wreak destruction on a nation
that had supposedly learned the danger of the outside world. There are more
dangers ahead: scientist’s dire predictions of a deadly new flu epidemic
when there are barely enough vaccines for the current strains or the
alarming decay of the basic life-giving functions of our planet. And these
are just issues that directly affect the United States—what of the outside
world? How many know that China is widely expected to become the dominant
world power within twenty years? How many care that Greece and Turkey are
waging war? My project will focus on the typical American’s isolation from
the rest of the world. One of my main images will be a picture of a red, a
white, and a blue pill. Others will probably be pictures of shelter or
confinement breached by danger. |
