Textual Poaching

Artist's Statement
           While serving my mission in Okinawa, Japan I became acquainted with a very learned, local man who taught history at the university level. We chatted with him on several different occasions and our discussions always ended up being deep and philosophical. I grew to respect him very much and although he did not think the church was right for him, he loved learning about it and was respectful in turn. One day he started ranting about how much he hated the US military bases on the island. He told us of a US Marine helicopter crash landing near an Okinawan elementary school a few years back. I remember being embarrassed to silence as he ranted. I used to live on those bases, furthermore, my father was a helicopter pilot for the Marines! I am not at all ashamed of my father, quite the opposite. I take great pride in my brave father for defending our country, but after living and serving in Japan for over 9 years, even marrying a Japanese woman, I find that some of these old sentiments are using me as the rope in a game of tug of war. I felt the pulling of the opposite side when I visited the Pearl Harbor site on Oahu. I found myself asking "how could they do such a thing?" The same words came to mind when I visited the bombing site in Hiroshima or the war memorials on Okinawa. These historical events were far before my time, but have left troubled waters in my life as they echo from the past.
            My project is symbolic of how I feel being tossed emotionally between the two countries I love. Thematically, it is similar to the photography we looked at in our readings. Although there are no visuals, the audio makes you rethink identity despite race. The powerful positioning of words from the "Star Spangled Banner" and words from US presidents about the war with Japan reflect on how things might have been different and the value of human life. 
            As for the form, I thought of some music accompanied with recordings like Micheal Buble's Christmas album where he sings "I'll be Home for Christmas" with recordings of US military members saying marry Christmas to their families while serving in some foreign land. I felt that putting music that has deep emotion and history attached to it juxtaposed with equally significant voice recordings would make for a power piece about how I feel.   



The Okinawan song at the end is called "Shimanchu nu Takara" and the line is translated to mean: "I wonder how well I know this island on which I was born"