Interesting enough, this is probably my most well known piece as the minor artist I am. There's a lot behind it. First off, I'll explain how it came about. I made this in my Junior year of high school for a painting and drawing art class. The project called for us to make a piece that showed what we thought our world would be like in the new millenium, it being the year 2000 at the time. As a very cynical and pessimistic adolescent, I believed that we would soon be coming into World War III and that we would end up destroying the world with our ridiculously advanced weapons in combination with our ridiculously idiotic and macho world leaders (though not all of them are like that of course). So I wanted to make an image that showed a destroyed city but combine it with some more powerful messages...

This project is a combination of materials and techniques. First I searched through dozens of newspapers and magazines for images, headlines and other text that represented war and destruction. The whole issue in Kosovo was going on at the time, so I had a lot of material to work with. I made a collage with what I found and covered a 25in by 30in board with it (too bad this picture doesn't really allow you to see it). Then I put a thin layer of gesso on just so that it would be faded enough to allow for the next part. With charcoal, I drew a destroyed city, using images that were familiar to me. The buildings in the front are supposed to be the Twin Towers and somewhere in the background is the Empire State Building. I didn't put a lot of detail into the buildings because I didn't want to take away from the collage behind it, plus I wanted it to be vague enough so that it could be any city. Next I made the flag by piecing together bits of cloth. This took FOREVER and was teh most irritating part of the project, but I like it the best. A dowel was used for the flag pole.

Interpret it as you may. Lots of people have. I was actually sent down to the guidance office for a "talk" about my pessimistic views after making this project. I was told that something like this would never happen to any of our cities and that I shouldn't think so negatively of the world, that it's a wonderful place, blah blah blah.
.................
Ironic that the terrorist attacks of 9/11 happened only a year and a half after I made this. And where? The Twin Towers. Some people thought I had a premonition, I think I merely pay attention to how the world works.
OH, and Long Island, NY congressman Phil Boyle liked it enough to hang this in the entrance to his office building for two months. Thought that was pretty damned cool ^_^