October 18 to November 1, 2014
five states of freedom
Christina Battle & Adán De La Garza
multiple video installation, 2014
five states of freedom operates as both documentation of performative actions and a critique of larger political issues. By drawing attention to our distancing of military actions from our own geographical landscape, the work increases conversations about the physical byproducts our military engagements have on domestic spaces. With a high percentage of land contaminated by military development, five states of freedom draws attention to the mainly invisible residues that still preside over the land. Fireworks have a direct tie to the history of artillery and in turn to notions of perceived American freedom. As we continually distance ourselves from directly engaging in battles at home, the celebratory acceptance of fireworks seems almost to be a reminder of this disengagement with the physicality of war.
Shot at various active and abandoned military installations in the United States, the work consists of a series of videos actively seeking out landscapes with histories of missile-based military presence. Focusing on visualizations of the residue of the military industrial complex upon the environment, five states of freedom is an ongoing project.
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