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Only a few months after the release of his film Flags of Our Fathers–which chronicled the story behind the famous World War II photograph of American servicemen raising Old Glory over the tiny Pacific island of Iwo Jima–comes director Clint Eastwood’s intriguing companion piece, Letters from Iwo Jima. In what may be a first in the film business, a major director has released two war films telling the same story from opposite sides of a conflict. It’s a bold idea.
Eastwood’s new film is meeting with broad approval from critics. Even The New York Post, a major component of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. empire, has given the new movie a strongly favorable review.
The battle for Iwo Jima was brutal. After a number of weeks of savage fighting, the U.S. was victorious, but that victory came at a high cost. Nearly seven thousand young American men met their deaths on the island. Even more Japanese troops (roughly 30,000) died in their unsuccessful attempt to hold the island.
Eastwood does not care to say how, if at all, these films should be taken in light of America’s current war. He has his own ideas, undoubtedly, but mostly he prefers to simply tell the stories. Yet, the release of both films at the present moment, at a time when the nation finds itself embroiled in a stubborn conflict that seems to hold the potential of becoming tragic, is poignant.
I suspect viewers with very different views of the present situation will read into the films, seeing some justificatio
n for their views in Eastwood’s movies. Regardless of how the films are interpreted, however, Eastwood undeniably puts a human face on a one-time enemy.
Because of the strong post-war relationship between the United States and Japan, it’s easy to forget that during the war, the Japanese were routinely demonized. (Some examples of U.S. government posters from the era are shown below.) Moreover, in one of the nation’s more dubious actions, over 100,000 Japanese-Americans were forcibly relocated to internment camps. (Read the text of Executive Order 9066, which authorized these relocations.) The passions of war ran high, and it was not only the guilty who paid the price. (It is true that Japanese-held captives during the war at times suffered greatly, sometimes in a manner that amounted to war crimes. That has little to do with the treatment of Japanese-Americans within U.S. borders, however.)
Long ago, Clint Eastwood was a television actor looking for work. He found it in the well-known “Man with No Name” Westerns of the Italian director Sergio Leone. (One of these films was based on Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s classic Yojimbo.) For years afterwards, he was a popular actor who could not buy respect from most critics. (New Yorker critic Pauline Kael regularly assailed his acting abilities and choice of projects.)
In recent years, Eastwood has become a major director, using his fame to bring attention to projects that interest him and about which he has something to say. He makes films worth thinking about.
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Images–Photo: “Carrying a Jap[anese] prisoner from stockade to be evacuated and treated for malnutrition. Iwo Jima.” (Department of Defense, Department of the Navy. U.S. Marine Corps); Photo: Newspaper headlines of Japanese Relocation (Franklin D. Roosevelt Library Public Domain Photographs, 1882 – 1962); Poster: “You Can’t Pop a Jap with Scrap.” Circa 1942 – 1943. (Office for Emergency Management, War Production Board); Poster: “Tokio kid say – Wash up early. Rush out door. Give Jap time for win war.” Circa 1942 – 1943. (Office for Emergency Management, War Production Board). All images from the National Archives & Records Administration.
Four decades ago, an artistic movement sometimes called Color Field painting was all the rage. Eschewing what they saw as the last remnants of representation in abstract art, Color Field painters instead focused on the purity of form and color. A painting was no longer about something else, but rather an end in itself. For a brief moment in an art world centered on New York, this vision captivated artists and gallery goers. Now, that world seems long ago.
Among the artists associated with this movement was Larry Zox, who passed away a few days ago at the age of 69. Somewhat lesser know than contemporaries such as Kenneth Noland, Zox had his own ideas about how to make paintings stripped down to the essential elements, with color and plane pushed to the fore. (To see an example of his work click here.) Zox often worked on huge canvases, applying thin coats of paints. Viewers were presented with expansive geometric areas infused with vibrant color.
I’ve happily encountered Zox’s work many times over the years. His work is found in a number of collections, including the Hirshhorn Museum (one of the Smithsonian’s facilities) in Washington, D.C.
Although most often recalled for his work in the 1960s and 70s, Zox continued working. At the time of his death, the Stephen Haller Gallery in New York was hosting an exhibit of his work. (Click here to see some of the work.)
Color Field painting was a product of its times. Though largely neglected now, taken on its own terms it provides a fascinating window into one way that visual artists responded to the uncertainty of the Cold War period. It also hints at an optimistic faith that modernity would provide new answers and experiences to a weary world.
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Electric Wasteland: Urban Art from L.A. is the title of an another engaging exhibit that is presently on view at Main Gallery of Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Massachusetts. The show is described as challenging “the boundaries between fine and street art, folk and contemporary, and illustration and design.” The show includes work by Date Farmers (the shared alias of Armando Lerma and Carlos Ramirez), Jeff Soto, Dave Kinsey, and Aaron White.
According to Leonie Bradbury, director of Montserrat’s gallery, “This art is exuberant and eclectic and seems to be characterized by chaotic compositions and gritty graphics. The main influences are graffiti, street art, Mexican murals, folk art and cartoons, and most of it centers on Los Angeles, a city that continues to assert itself as a hub of creativity and visual culture.”
Electric Wasteland is a refreshing show, reflecting some of the enormous energy in the multi-faceted West Coast art scene. One striking work in the exhibit is the painting from Date Farmers entitled “Super Chango” (shown above) , which evokes religious iconography and cultural references. Operating on several interpretative levels (and much more sophisticated formally than may at first be apparent), it’s very approachable.
Electric Wasteland: Urban Art from L.A. is on view until February 3, 2007. (Click here for more details and a press release about the show.)
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Image (above): Date Farmers (Carlos Ramirez and Armando Lerma), Super Chango, 2005-2006 (paint and collage on two panels, each 4′x8′). Courtesy Montserrat College of Art.
Text: Adapted from Montserrat College of Art press announcement.
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Arts-minded residents in the northeastern United States have a new destination to check out. It’s the brand new Institute of Contemporary Art—more often referred to as the ICA—in Boston. The ICA was established in the 1930s, but it has never had a home that was up to the task of housing its lofty ambitions. That is about to change. Beginning on December 10, the ICA is opening its spectacular new facility on the waterfront.
Over the years, the ICA played an important part in bringing artists such as Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Laurie Anderson, and Roy Lichtenstein to wider public attention when each was not yet well-known. Given its commitment to currency in staging exhibitions, until now the museum has focused on changing exhibits that often featured upcoming artists and hot trends. Now, in addition to having the space to mount exhibits that keep the ICA at the forefront of the contemporary visual arts scene, it will also have the space to present a permanent collection. The changes amount to a major re-envisioning of the ICA’s place among northeastern cultural institutions. The new ICA is positioned to play a much more visible role in the national arts arena.
Although the new facility heralds a bold new vision, the ICA won’t forget its local roots and its importance to the visual artists working in and around Boston. One of the inaugural shows in the ICA’s monumental new home features four local artists of “exceptional artistic promise”—Sheila Gallagher, Jane D. Marsching, Kelly Sherman, and Rachel Perry Welty.
The new ICA is a welcome addition to the New England cultural scene.
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This year marks the one-hundredth anniversary of the Antiquities Act. The original goal of the Act, which was signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt, was to protect some of the “historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest.” Of particular interest were the lands that were historically occupied by Native American cultures in the American West.
To achieve this goal, the Act gave the president the authority to declare such sites “national monuments,” thereby affording them federal recognition. Roosevelt took his new authority and enthusiastically applied it, probably in a much broader way than was envisioned by those who wrote the Act. He first designated Devils’ Tower in Wyoming as a national monument, and soon added Petrified Forest (Arizona), El Morro (New Mexico), and Montezuma Castle (Arizona) to the list.
His boldest interpretation of the Act came with the proclamation that 800,000 acres of the Grand Canyon constituted a national monument. Roosevelt’s successors added to the list.
The “national monuments” preserved under the Antiquities Act became a basis for the National Parks. In retrospect, the Act and its application by Theodore Roosevelt seem visionary.
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Images: (TOP) May 1972 photo from the Environmental Protection Agency: “Pictograph in the maze, in the heart of the Canyonlands dating back over 1000 years, these archaeological treasures are highly vulnerable to natural damage and vandalism. The park service, however, lacks personnel to guard them adequately and their best protection is their remoteness. Among the drawings the ‘harvester figure’ is significant since it proves that the aborigines of the region planted crops.” [EPA text] Photo in collection of the National Archives; (BELOW) National Parks Service photo, Devil’s Tower (undated).
The folks at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, an upmarket company in Vermont, have announced they will be roasting a new PBS Blend. (The story is reported in today’s business pages of Boston.com.) It will be sold in a cooperative arrangement with the Public Broadcasting System, which will benefit from some of the proceeds. According to the company, the coffee in the roast originates “in the lush tropical rain forests surrounding the El Triunfo Biosphere in Mexico.” Consistent with the stereotyped public image of PBS, the coffee will also be Fair Trade, for the socially conscious, and certified organic, for those interested in progressive health and environmental issues.
Wondering if there’s a more conservative blend available at other media outlets, I checked the FOX News online shop to see if they sold coffee. Although I did not find coffee, there are several FOX News coffee mugs available. This got me thinking: What would PBS Blend coffee taste like in a FOX News mug?
A postscript: Contrary to popular belief, there are some connections between PBS and FOX. A couple of decades ago, I used to watch FOX’s popular Neil Cavuto when he was a contributing reporter to the Nightly Business Report program, which many PBS stations still carry.
(Image courtesy National Archives & Records Administration)
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Since the infamy of 9/11, there has been much talk of the “homeland.” The word is now enshrined in the name of a cabinet-level department of the federal government.
Use of the word “homeland,” when referring to the United States, was not common before 2001, however. It was used sometimes in policy documents and a bit more often in news about foreign countries. What we today call “homeland security” was more often called “civil defense,” a term that seems to have fallen out of favor.
Here’s an informal look at the number of entries with the word as appearing in a few publications before and after that year. A quick Lexis-Nexis search yielded the following results:
* From January 1, 1999 to January 1, 2000, the word “homeland” appeared in 316 entries listed for the Boston Globe newspaper. From January 1, 2005 to January 1, 2006, it appeared in 715 entries.
* From January 1, 1999 to January 1, 2000, the word “homeland” appeared in 50 entries lsited for Newsweek magazine. From January 1, 2005 to January 1, 2006, it appeared in 1,221 entries.
* From January 1, 1999 to January 1, 2000, the word “homeland” appeared in 152 entries listed for the Houston Chronicle newspaper. From January 1, 2005 to January 1, 2006, it appeared in 526 entries.
* From January 1, 1999 to January 1, 2000, the word “homeland” appeared in 4 entries listed for the National Review magazine. From January 1, 2005 to January 1, 2006, it appeared in 134 entries.
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Image: Photo from the National Archives & Records Administration, historical photograph of a computer room at NASA.
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Conspiracy Theory in Film, Television, and Politics, new from Praeger Publishers. 
