Signature | Made under government contract As a military emblem Symbolization now erratic |
T his flag image was captured at night in the little town of Blue Springs, Missouri. The light is from a street lamp, and the background is the oddly shaped metal siding of a store on the central street. If you haven't noticed, I recently have been posting one US flag image each month. I am a fan of the work of Jasper Johns, and am fascinated in how ubiquitous symbols can be transformed and rendered to evoke a range of meaning.
“I'm interested in things which suggest the world rather than express the personality... The most conventional thing, the most ordinary thing – it seems to me that those things can be dealt with without having to judge them; they seem to me to exist as clear facts, not involving aesthetic hierarchy.” – Jasper johns
In the 1950's, Johns' paintings of targets, maps, and flags generated both anger and praise from critics. This work combined a sober concern for the craft of image making with everyday symbols as subject matter. The minimalism and familiarity of the subject matter engendered viewer attention to both Johns' inspiration and method.
