By Rachel Weymouth:
The Burchfield Penney Art Center opened a new show this past Friday called War Ongoing Project. The premise of the project is to get visitors to think about the emotional toll war takes on everyone involved.
“I proposed to fill the Media room with thousands of small black bags hung from individual filaments at different heights from a foot above ground level toward the ceiling. In every bag would be the names of the war dead, from the present wars to past wars. The bags are metaphor for the life unlived,” said Perrone of his exhibit.
Upon entering the exhibit spectators will notice the bags on the wall along with three chairs in the center of the room. When you go up to the chairs you will hear stories of the soldiers and their experience in war. The atmosphere is darkened by the background music which is meant to set the tone.
“No one wants to talk about it, to reveal the monsters of our nature, the raw effects of survival. We don’t see the body bags and we don’t want to look at the online pictures of that carnage,” said Perrone.
The exhibit will run until June 30th.
Admission prices and gallery hours are available at Burchfield-Penney’s website.