"NUTHIN' TO SEE HERE, KEEP ON MOVIN!"
The drawing "Nuthin' To See Here, Keep on Movin'!" was created in Los Angeles 2008 .
The Macarthur Park Mayday Riots had occurred (2007) and sparked my visual response. I encourage you to look it up and read about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_MacArthur_Park_rallies
Although based from an actual event, I was very interested in creating an epic image which provided a critical visual response to the aggressive levels of threat and brutality which was rapidly escalating between the police and the public post 9/11. Six years later, this drawing seems to have been a premonition of some sort.
The composition of this drawing was designed to imitate a tidal wave moments before it crashes down and wreaks havoc on everything in its path. Like a tidal wave, once this force gains real momentum, it is an unstoppable. force The confrontational power and intimidation of the screaming officer who commands you to turn away parallels the authoritative finger pointing of America's Uncle Sam who still declares, "I WANT YOU".
The opposition is not present in this drawing. The viewer can assume that the opposition has been forced out of the frame, silenced and censored by the State and its media. Out of sight and out of mind.
The flying water bottles and soda cans become the only indicators of agitators. The LAPD claimed that these objects were filled with urine by a few "anarchists" in the crowd who targeted officers. Their claims justified their force and they unleashed a fury of batons and rubber bullets on men, women and children, citizens and non citizens.
This drawing was created in painstaking detail with a lithographic crayon on paper. It measures at 42"x60". The screaming officer on horseback was posed by my landlord at the time. I sat him on a wooden construction horse in the studio. I spent an extensive amount of time researching the landscape of MacArthur Park and SWAT gear of the LAPD.
I also evaluated several photographs that I shot during the South Central Community Farm raids by the LA County Sherriffs Dept and the LAPD 2 years prior to this Mayday Rally. During that time, I noticed an interesting detail on their uniforms such as the Nike Swoosh trademark on their riot gear like knee pads, elbow pads, chin straps and wrist bands. It become a haunting and peculiar detail which seemed to bluntly declare the merger between corporation and the state.
