From 6 years ago: 43 Days

This photo is from this blog, January 18, 2010.  These lines were drawn in the sand at South Blvd. Beach in Evanston on the second day of my 43 days.  Commemorating widows in Iraq with a unbelievable, inaccurate estimate of the sheer numbers through the dead of winter was in turns moving, somber, preposterous, beautiful, and provocative.  Though I haven't finished the 3 million lines for a variety of reasons, I feel that this may have been my most successful work to date.

25 Year Anniversary

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the Gulf War (bombing in Operation Desert Storm) and the fascinating video-game-like coverage that was as enthralling as it was sanitized. I will try to post something here or on Facebook or other social media from my artistic journey since that time relating to the war, the Iraqi people, widows and by extension all war and its impact, as well as the healing effect of art as response.

Lines in the Sand - 2/28/15 participation

Tomorrow marks 5 years since the Widowsweave-43days-Lines in the Sand performance where many volunteers and I drew over half a million lines in the sand (and through the snow into the sand) to highlight the plight of Widows in Iran, and 24 years since the end of what The Gulf War. Now I want you to draw your "line in the sand" literally, artistically, metaphorically, in the sand, on paper, in the air, or in whateverway you find meaningful.  Then post it to my artistactivist facebook page, to instagram as consciousv, or to twitter @consciousv.

#artistactivist, #consciousv, #linesinthesand

Back in Blogger - Update

Hi  - It's been a while since I've blogged to this site.  Google has changed a bunch of stuff and I now have two Google accounts so they wanted some sort of link to Google plus....

Anyway, I'm mostly posting to my kevinvalentine.net and artistactivist.com sites right now, but hope to get a blog going more from a personal point of view soon.

I will try to keep this up as much as possible as well.

Kevin

Belated Totals from Manifest 2011

Approximately 120 participants commemorated Iraqi Widows with 13,989 lines drawn in grids, pictures and messages on a chalkboard, two large panels and the asphalt at Manifest 2011.

Widowsweave at Maninfest

Artistactivist Presents: Widowsweave will be present at Manifest
May 13th Noon-7 900 South Wabash - Outside
Add your mark - Draw chalk lines for Iraq's widows - on chalk boards and on the pavement.
Join Kevin in this Widowsweave event.

Sunday's Fundraiser

Had a great 1st fundraiser on Sunday, raising almost $500 towards Artistactivist and Widowsweave project.  Will be planning more Widowsweave events soon.  Thanks to all who participated, donated or otherwise helped out.  Special thanks to Colleen and Justin at Work Studio in Chicago for donating the space, and Ramah Jihan for a beautiful set of music.

Artistactivist Fundraiser

 

All are welcome at Artistactivist fundraiser this Sunday.

Fundraiser Set

Artisactivist, Valentine's not-for-profit will be holing its first Fundraiser at Work Studio in Chicago on April 3rd.  Please come and support the artist's efforts to raise awareness of the conditions of Iraqi widows.

Time Expands

I'm up at nights thinking of how slow I've been at getting Widowsweave  into galleries and spaces.  Is it life or disorganization, timidity or timing?  I've had a couple of apps and grants not quite get accepted, but there is a haze on the whole project which I have to clear away.  I have to buckle down and find the time and space to make real progress, only without depleting our resources.  Until I receive a grant or find employment, I have to stay on the cheap.  There is still much I can do.

Lines in the Sand: 20th Anniversary of Gulf War on MLK Day

Alyssa and I went out on North Montrose Beach in the freezing rain as drew 2000 lines in the sand for the 20th anniversary of the Gulf War.  After a year and a half of performances, and such a long gap since my last performance, I found that I was thinking more about the project and its efficacy as activism and art than about the widows themselves.  I think that I need to keep with my vision of engaging community in this project or it will become just a counting exercise.

2000 lines

 Ice formations

 January 17th Commemoration

 Lines in sand-on-snow-on-sand

 Like sentinals

Artistactivist Fundraiser

Artistactivist will have it's first fundraiser on January 30, 2011. I will perform/display some of my Widowsweave works.  Check back for details.

Low Estimate was exhibited at the Iraq History Project Arts Festival at Depaul University in Chicago.  This panel consists of over 118,000 circles painted to represent the United Nations low estimate of 500,000 child deaths related to sanctions against Iraq.  The remaining memorial circles will be painted on additional panels.  This panel could not accommodate all 500,000 due to drying time of the acrylic paint and date of the exhibit.  There are 15-20 or more layers of tightly overlapped circles and spirals on this panel covering evidence of earlier circles, patterns and designs.  We cannot see all 118,000 simultaneously. Their inscription is obliterated by new layers,  creating a thick mottled textured panel of irregular thickness in an oily gloss.
The festival included a panel discussion on activist art, and one which included two attorneys for Guantanamo detainees. Earlier in the week, I joined two other artists in a panel discussion discussing our work related to Iraq.  There were a total of 17 artists involved in the Art Festival, all responding to the Iraq History Project's archive of testimony by perpetrators, victims and witnesses of torture in Iraq from 1968-2008.
I chose to respond to Law Law's story which involved her recording names and deaths at her family home, as they helped bury children who died around the time of the Anfal campaign in the late eighties.  When still a school girl, she was able to orchestrate the reuniting of a father and son who were able to escape the country.  This was before the sanctions, or around the time the sanctions began.  My piece continues her work of documenting the deaths of children with a series of memorial paintings.
(The UN high estimate is 1.2 million)

Iraqi History Project

http://columbiachronicle.com/artists-activists-unite-for-human-rights
Article in Columbia Chronicle on upcoming Iraqi History Project festival in which Kevin Valentine is participating.