About the Gallery
In addition to exploring themes participants may explore any printmaking method (traditional and/or digital) except photography. Paper selection may vary, though, each print may not exceed 15” x 15” in an edition of 20. Each portfolio will be housed in a black box with an image of the Moon on the cover. A small amount of talc will be placed inside each box and serve as a metaphor for the Moon’s powdery surface. Included in the box will be two plastic astronaut figurines and an American flag to place atop the box when closed. One portfolio will be prepared for each participant. The Black Flag on the Moon provides opportunities for participants from varying backgrounds to explore (in visual terms) the American flag. The black flag, with its many connotations, is certainly worthy of exploration. For example, Black Flag is a brand of insecticide; a hardcore punk band; an anarchist newspaper; an anarchist symbol -- and it was flown by certain Confederate Army units in the American Civil War. Also interesting is the fact that men landed on the Moon and returned, yet a woman’s contribution (the flag), is what remains as the most potent symbol of conquest and constancy, not to mention, the transmission of American heritage on the lunar landscape.
Although the American flag has not changed in appearance, it has changed in interpretation. Portfolio participants are asked to create their own interpretation. The exhibition seeks to challenge the notion of the American flag as a static symbol and to show how one, particularly an American, might be conflicted by a duplicitous symbol: peace dove and harbinger of war. Can these interpretations exist side-by-side? If so, what does the US flag mean to you?
