Armed to the Teeth, a series of medium to large-scale inkjet prints, juxtaposes perishable organic materials with the dazzling products of military research. Corn, celery, and other stuff that you might find in your refrigerator rot into oblivion evoking the mortal human body. These images sit in a swirling grid of systematically distorted images that hint at, though never clearly show, the 21st century's most advanced technology. Both abundant and unknown, modern weaponry is familiar to most Americans only though a barrage of images — the virtual tempest of the information network. This work sets the frail vulnerability of individual existence within the historical and social context of war and technology.
Each of the four panels of 1242 Fighter Jets consists of five photographs of an ear of corn, taken over the course of two months with over 300 blurred and reduced images of either F-14, F-15, F-16 or F-18 fighter jets. These are the current models of the US Air force and the US Navy. Made from images found on the Internet from military sites, the dense grids in this work convey a physical sense of the quantity of these armaments. Larger images are blurred beyond recognition. Smaller jet images are often reduced until they become the equivalent of noise. A distant view yields the overall swirling patterns and the sequence of corn photos. Close inspection yields suggestions of recognizable objects. Within this background grid of high technology, the effects of time overcome each individual vegetable or fruit, leaving only a pathetic trace.