LANDSCAPES WITHOUT VIOLENCE

How does a proud nation internalize defeat? How does it absorb the consciousness of its weary troops as it brings them home? How do we concede mistakes made on such an overwhelming scale?

Machismo is defined by its inadequacies. The Iraq war attempted collective catharsis via a deranged lashing-out at the Iraqi landscape and its people. This project operates under the assumption that the Iraq war cannot be won. But if we lose—eschewing euphemisms for the moment—how does that affect Americans’ understanding of themselves? I’m interested in the psychological aftermath. Once we remove our troops, what remains?

These images are stills from war games, taken during “non-violent” moments of the game. I have removed all weapons and traces of the game, so that what remains is simply the setting of violence. What remains is in our heads. What remains is the promise of an unknown and unprecedented antagonism, or what we have come to know as "terror."