Barb Hunt

Barb Hunt knits replicas of antipersonnel land mines in various shades of pink wool, which have been inspired by protests against land mines. She investigates how knitting and pinkness can provide coziness and a sense of home but with the antipathy of war. She always relates knitting to caring for the body; bandages and hand knit socks for soldiers aboard.

I find her collection very moving and I find that it can ponder the sheer inventiveness of this kind of human evil by the way that we create such an array of civilian-killing devices along with this position of the meaning of using a cuddly medium with a feminine pink colour.

Marianne Joergensen

A combat tank from WWII is the main attraction for this art piece.  There was a protest against the Danish involvement in the war in Iraq and this tank was covered with knitted and crocheted squares. People from European countries and the USA came together to volunteer to knit this work of art. This covering has about 4000 pink squares.

When I look at this tank, I see a strong and powerful visualization of thoughtfulness. I love that this knitted tank has hundreds of knitted patches and has been made is many different ways. I think that by knitting your opinions gives any kind of project that you’re doing an aspect of how important it is. I think it shows the importance beyond the use of words. I see the tank as a symbol for stepping over borders but when I see it covered in pink, I feel that it re creates a purpose as it looks completely unarmed and loses it’s authority.

Betsy Greer

Betsy Greer has made herself known of cross-stitching pieces, which are based on anti-war graffiti found around the world. She first began by understanding what exactly where the facts with the United States’ involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. This would eventually lead to the point where she has been introduced to amazing work from artists all over the world.

I see her graffiti work as almost having a dangerous context to it but I like how she has put it in a safe context. I feel that her collection evokes a response to the issues of what is happening in today’s world and even in past wars. I feel that it shows why countries may fight and why citizens may remain opposed to war.

I have always loved graffiti as it kind of brings up the issues of ownership: who owns it? The artist? The city?

C.R.W. Nevinson

C.R.W. Nevinson is one the most acclaimed war artists of WWI. He has created iconic images of WWI. These images range from mechanical soldiers to unsetting industrial landscapes. He became iconic by the fact that he saw and captured the world was torn apart by war.

Early on in his work, he once joined the Friend’s Ambulance Unit so that he could capture and experience looking after the wounded French soldiers, which would inspire his work.

He worked very closely with Italian Futurists and even followed the Vorticist movement. He created a new artistic language which made him believe that 'our Futurist technique is the only possible medium to express the crudeness, violence and brutality of the emotions seen and felt on the present battlefields of Europe'.

No artist or any other person during this time had never before witnessed this kind of war on scale from the battlefields of France to the medical attention that was needed at that time. It brought a lot of attention to the fact that so many young men would march to their death as this is felt in the 1914 work of ‘On the way to the Trenches.’

He was able to capture the horrors of this Modernity. His 1915 work ‘La Mitrailleuse’  was being described by the artist Walter Sickert as 'the most authoritative and concentrated utterance on the war in the history of painting'.

Jan Kath

Jan Kath is a well-established rug designer but the one rug that I am particularly crazy about is the philosophy rug ‘MAKE RUGS NOT WAR’ where he has used bold, hot pink lettering. I really admire designers that can create such beautiful bespoke pieces that are nothing less than ordinary.

I see it as having a completely different dimension to it with these huge bold words that are placed on the rug and I think it could have a really big influence on the environment, communities etc.

Andreas Frankie

Andreas Frankie creates very surrealistic photography on the sunken American naval ship “Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg” near the coast of Florida, for his series ‘The Vandenberg, Life Below the Surface’

He is most known for his commercial advertising route of global brands, but I find his more personal projects very sensational. This project “The Vandenberg: Life Below The Surface,” has completely transformed the shipwreck into an art space beneath the ocean.

In 1944, the U.S. Navy, a troop transport ship in World War II acquired USS General Harry Taylor. She was in the waters until 1961 before she was transferred to the U.S. Air Force, which for then she was converted to a missile ranges instrumentation ship, and renamed the USAFS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg. She retired form duty in 1983 with 40 years of service in a long life span. This phrase would usually mean death at a ship-breaking yard for most vessels.

After another 10 years, she was auctioned off and was sent to Key West but she had a more permanent solution, she was to be sunk and to be re converted into an artificial reef in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Since the sinking in 2009, this 522-foot long ship has become the second’s largest artificial reef. This ship has become a success by providing shelter and habitat for marine life and even marine scientists can gather material form the ships placement.

I mostly see the ship as having a hidden potential to his inspiring work. After finding out how much history this ship has from World War II, I feel that Franke has made her a star again, by bringing her to life once more by the fact that the shipwreck was once a dead object and has created so much life to it.

The way he has created these photographs feels like they are dream worlds or mystified scenes of either re creating the past or creating a fictional new world. I feel you can get lost and I feel that this can create a brand new and unexpected atmosphere.

Bouke de Vries

Bouke de Vries is a very famous ceramic artist and is well known for creating unique and contemporary installations. This particular installation is currently being held on Holburne’s Ballroom table. This piece is inspired by the 18^th century fashion for decorating banqueting tables. “War & Pieces” shows the tradition of grand banquets and balls held on the eve of battle.

It looks like an atomic bomb of cloud has just exploded onto the table with the shards of white ceramics around the table. This piece incorporates Sir William Holburne’s Chinese tobacco leaf pattern dinner service. The story unfolds of how a battle will be fought out along the table with figures made from this Derby porcelain.