Band of Brothers.
Saving Private Ryan.
Das Boot.
A Bridge Over the River Kwai.
Deer Hunter.
Apocalypse Now.
Full Metal Jacket.
Jarhead.
The Hurt Locker.
These are but a few of the more iconic examples of the way in which hundreds of millions of people around the world have been introduced to what war, service and homecoming looks like (however accurate or inaccurate). The list of "war films" is huge. However, in the end, Hollywood makes movies to sell tickets first. And for every portrayal based on fiction or biography that gets the multimillion dollar treatment for the big screen, there are thousands of other stories and experiences from those who have lived through service and war that remain untold. The medium of film is another critical part of the Warrior Art Movement. Whether through fictional screenplay, documentary like Restrepo or Where Soldiers Come From, or a 2-minute video clip from a warrior's phone; the warrior's experience becomes a moving breathing experience on the screen.
For a glipse at one man's transition from battelfield to big screen, check out this article about Sgt. Matthew Pennington. Matthew Pennington NY Times
Matthew is currently touring the country screening his award winning short film A Marines Guide to Fishing
and sharing his experience of recovery, reconnection, and starring in the film as an actor.
For other incredible documentaries, don't forget to check out:
Poster Girl
On The Bridge
This Is Where We Take Our Stand
The Welcome
Iraq Paper Scissors
Please leave a comment if you know of other films/video art that are must-see Warrior Art projects, and/or experiences of being involved in the creation of these films.
More soon.
In art and service, David
Dedicated to connecting the people and organizations bringing Warrior Art to the world in all its forms
A Place to Connect and Share
Hello and Welcome!!!
This blog has one basic and focused purpose:
To create a full and living list of all the current (and recent) art projects/initiatives/organizations/collectives that are focused on using the arts to give voice to the warrior's experience and connect that voice to our communities.
There is a movement that has existed since the first time a warrior carved or painted their story on a rock or in the dirt. This movement has always been about sharing the pure voice of the person who has lived through sacrifice, service, and pain. Sharing these voices and experiences THROUGH ART with the broader community is a critical part of our collective understanding of war and service, and most importantly a critical part of a warrior's homecoming (whatever that homecoming entails). Some of the narratives remain the same through time. We need look no farther than the work of Sophocles and other ancient warrior-artists to discover this fact.
Narratives become performance, visual art, graffiti, tattoo, dance, sculpture, poetry, prose, song, and more.
Now we have the internet. We have social media. We have the means of sharing and connecting art and community in amazing and creative ways. Now in this landscape, after 11 years of prolonged American wartime, there is a newly invigorated movement arising. I created this blog and common space to honor that movement and help connect anyone, anywhere, that is a part of it. My hope is that this may be one of many spaces on the Web that helps connect people to all things Warrior Art related. My hope is that we learn more and more about what the organizations and projects in this movement are doing, and connect to one another in solidarity.
DISCLAIMER: I have no political or organizational agenda here. My motivations are simply to collect and share information, and help promote the wide array of groups and organizations that already exist that are working to grow this movement. There are many parts of this movement. Some projects are all about memorial, some about finding a new life, some about social change, about personal healing, about activism, about growing community.... My hope is that this space (and whatever it grows into!) is welcome to all of these forces.
Thank you for what you do. Thank you for reading these words. Thank you for helping add to this effort.
IF YOU ARE A PART OF, OR KNOW ABOUT, A GROUP OR PROJECT THAT IS NOT YET POSTED, PLEASE ADD THE LINK, THE ART ITSELF, OR ANY KEY INFO AS A COMMENT.
In service and art,
David
This blog has one basic and focused purpose:
To create a full and living list of all the current (and recent) art projects/initiatives/organizations/collectives that are focused on using the arts to give voice to the warrior's experience and connect that voice to our communities.
There is a movement that has existed since the first time a warrior carved or painted their story on a rock or in the dirt. This movement has always been about sharing the pure voice of the person who has lived through sacrifice, service, and pain. Sharing these voices and experiences THROUGH ART with the broader community is a critical part of our collective understanding of war and service, and most importantly a critical part of a warrior's homecoming (whatever that homecoming entails). Some of the narratives remain the same through time. We need look no farther than the work of Sophocles and other ancient warrior-artists to discover this fact.
Narratives become performance, visual art, graffiti, tattoo, dance, sculpture, poetry, prose, song, and more.
Now we have the internet. We have social media. We have the means of sharing and connecting art and community in amazing and creative ways. Now in this landscape, after 11 years of prolonged American wartime, there is a newly invigorated movement arising. I created this blog and common space to honor that movement and help connect anyone, anywhere, that is a part of it. My hope is that this may be one of many spaces on the Web that helps connect people to all things Warrior Art related. My hope is that we learn more and more about what the organizations and projects in this movement are doing, and connect to one another in solidarity.
DISCLAIMER: I have no political or organizational agenda here. My motivations are simply to collect and share information, and help promote the wide array of groups and organizations that already exist that are working to grow this movement. There are many parts of this movement. Some projects are all about memorial, some about finding a new life, some about social change, about personal healing, about activism, about growing community.... My hope is that this space (and whatever it grows into!) is welcome to all of these forces.
Thank you for what you do. Thank you for reading these words. Thank you for helping add to this effort.
IF YOU ARE A PART OF, OR KNOW ABOUT, A GROUP OR PROJECT THAT IS NOT YET POSTED, PLEASE ADD THE LINK, THE ART ITSELF, OR ANY KEY INFO AS A COMMENT.
In service and art,
David
