tomer :: the Timeline project was created to celebrate the 25th anniversary of American Illustration. here is the explanation from DART :"...To commemorate AI's 25th anniversary, 25 of today's top artists were commissioned by Mark Heflin, Director, to create a new work to represent one year from the last 2.5 decades. Each piece will run in the book as a double-page divider spread to accompany the 322 jury-selected images".
2003, which was assigned to me, brought us events that centered on post 9-11 mid-east politics and conflicts. Powell addresses the UN with bogus intelligence. Columbia shuttle explodes in reentry. N. Korea withdraws form nuclear pact. Chicago wins Oscar for best picture. also, Saddam Hussein is captured by American troops. this last fact felt like it had possibilities.
the famus picture/video of an american soldier poking a flash light into Saddam's mouth was a visual starting point. after the drawing was done the result just couldn't compete with the real thing. I needed a broader angle.
People all over the world saw that news footage... Iraqis as well. his capture was celebrated in the west like another step towards 'fixing' Iraq, but must have been less than festive to the hundreds and thousands of Iraqi orphans living in ruins. not because they are for or against the old regime, it's that at this point they have so little to loose.
