About
Art can have power, and it became time (for me) to decide upon a cause:
22 war veterans commit suicide every day in the United States: that is as many as 8000 veterans lost every year. What a horribly astonishing reality! With your help, we will create a sculpture that is powerful enough to represent the severity of the issue.
The Project:
This sculpture will be called "Heart and Mind". It will be a soldier in combat gear, and he will be holding his hands out to us. In his hands, he'll be holding his brain, and his heart, in a gesture of showing and offering them out to us. Cavities in the chest and head will make it obvious that the organs are his own. On his face will be an expression of the most severe sadness and penetrating eagerness as he internally pleads for our understanding of his loss.
This haunting, but impactful sculpture will not be easily forgotten.
How:
Most of the figure will be sculpted from spent bullet shells, and a soldier's name will be cut into each individual shell. The face and hands will be fully sculpted in lifelike detail, while the rest of the piece will be assembled and welded out of shells.
Our current model for the sculpture is my friend Marti. He has gone out on a limb, and opened himself up to public scrutiny, and he is willing to help with this sculpture. In fact, he is enthused about the way it correctly represents his feelings and his struggles. He has opened up to me in such a way that it is like a sacred trust to me, and I treasure the friendship. Please be kind. By being willing to be depicted in a way that makes obvious his (and so many other's) struggle, he has found some solace, but it opens him up to a vulnerability that is worthy of our highest respect, and carefulness.
Names cut into bullet shells:
The name of a war veteran we lost to suicide will be cut into each shell. (where names of veteran suicides are taken from a public list, only the first name and initials will be on the shell, to protect any preferred anonymity) ---
Imagine how powerful this piece could be, and the potential effect on awareness, when viewers see the entire thing is sculpted from shells that each have the name of a soldier cut into it: especially, if most of those names represent soldiers who have committed suicide due to their own struggles with PTSD. Those who donate any amount to the sculpture, can provide a name of their own soldier (or service person) to be cut into a shell.
To effectively represent all the PTSD veteran suicides, the sculpture will need to stand over 11 ft tall (depending on shell sizes). That a 120,000 dollar project over about 1 and a half to 2 for me and a small team.
Other potential sizes and funding goals are as follows:
1-for a life sized figure 68 inches to 6.5 ft tall , ---we will need to raise 55-70,000 dollars, and it will take about 8 months to complete. This is the minimum Kickstarter goal.
2-for 140% life sized (Historic size museum piece) 7-9 ft tall, ---we must raise 70-90,000 dollars, with 8-12 months for completion.
3-for a 9.5-11.5 ft tall sculpture, we'd need to raise 95-120,000 dollars, and it would take about a year and a half to complete. This size is our goal, since its big enough to include a shell for all the veterans whom we have lost to PTSD suicide.
4-for a 12-16 ft tall sculpture, we'd need 120-200,000 dollars and it would take more or less than two years to complete. --And it would be an epic and powerful undertaking, because it would be representative of a massive amount of public support!
5-beyond that, the more we raise, the bigger and more magnificent the sculpture would be. Kickstarter does not have a cap for donations. While I will not ask for donations beyond the scope of my facilities, and experience (about 18 ft tall), If this project receives over 220 thousand dollars, it will likely become a double figure sculpture with a woman soldier, in the same pose, and standing back to back with the first figure.
Thanks all. ---this is a gamble, because not everyone is comfortable with the graphic nature of the piece. Many have shown strong enthusiasm for the idea, while others sneer, or others are just a bit shocked. It brings others deep sadness, for which I am truly sorry. Still, I think all of those reactions serve the purpose. I am a bit sheepish to take on this campaign, as it is also a career move, and I apologize for whatever insensitivities are coupled by my acquisition of the theme. -or- where my lack of being a serviceman/soldier might disqualify me to represent the cause. ---still, we venture, and it's not about me. Art is a culture shaping institution, and this is a cause that extends across all life and political bodies.
Thank you for your support, and more so, I thank all of you who have served!
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To my initial surprise, many people have shown interest in owning a small version of this sculpture, so I'm offering cast pieces in both bronze and resin. These pieces will be given to donors as incentives and gratitude for specified donation amounts to the big public "Heart and Mind" sculpture.
You can get a 20 inch bronze with your 3600 dollar donation.
You can get an 18 inch white marble for an 800 dollar donation.
You get a limited edition 10 inch bronze figure with a 1200 dollar donation
or an 8 inch bronze finished resi figurine with your 50 dollar donation.
For y'all who do not wish to receive a miniature of "Heart and Mind" with your donation, there is another place to simply donate to the cause.
Risks and challenges
Our first unresolved aspect is the subject of sculpture placement. Where will it go??? Without yet knowing how big the piece will be, we don't quite know where we will instal it. The current plan is to donate the sculpture to an organization or municipality that is equipped and willing to give the sculpture a location where it will be rightly seen and appreciated. I expect to retain veto power over the sculpture's location, but only to protect the piece from improper placement or handling.
-next, inasmuch as the actual cost of the sculpture in various sizes is impossible to perfectly predict, I will likely have some hiccups along the way. Still, the sculpture will start with an inner frame structure, so once we commit to a size, based upon the fundraiser, there is no shrinking the sculpture once it has begun. This makes for a "finish or fail" type scenario. I have estimated dollar amounts generously, as to pay for skilled help, and top quality materials and engineering, but the advice given to me to "expect it to cost twice as much as you think it will cost" (as a non-specific investment principle) seems unethical here in the context of my commitments. ---luckily, I'm an artist, and I can invest time and energy where finances might run dry. Truly though, I really expect the listed costs to be wholly sufficient to the cause. In the event that there is more money left over than my conscience allows me to claim, I will invest it into the final installation. Should there still be more, I'll find a veteran to help off the street, and turn my abstract awareness campaign into a practice. ---make a friend.
-Third, It surprised me that folks might want a miniature of this sculpture in their homes. It seems to me, as a large public piece it would be an effective awareness campaign, but as a piece in a home or office it could be un-consoling. I am not collecting any direct personal profits from the sale of the miniature sculptures, but have priced the incentive program so that about 35 percent of the donation will cover the casting costs of the miniatures, and all the rest will fund our big public piece. --- I am counting on only a small percent of the donors wanting a miniature, but if most people want one, it will cut the money going towards the main project substantially. This is a project of sentiment, and I'm expecting folks to donate based on their intent to increase PTSD awareness, more than getting a product. If the enthusiasm for miniatures is more than I expect, then the main piece will likely be on the smaller side of the proposed size per dollar raised ratio. Having said, I will not limit the numbers of resin miniatures available, and if you want one, please do not hesitate to claim it.
Lastly, it would be wholly tragic if, upon seeing this sculpture, a PTSD sufferer was forced into recollections that made the problem worse, and read hopelessness in the image rather than support. To make sure that observers know our intent, a short plaque will say something like "We acknowledge your sacrifice, and thank you. Don't give up. -signed, The world you served" (or something to that effect).
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