How Do You Know That ?

For those of us linear thinkers who like maps and guides, this introduction can be a preview and explanation of the book you are about to look at.

         This book presents excerpts from five sources of information about the American invasion of Iraq, in the Spring of 2003, interwoven with photographs taken from the TV screen, plus diagrams of the electromagnetic spectrum. These elements create a fascinating portrait of the workings of the artist's mind. The mind, in search of knowledge. The mind, trying to make sense of what the media feeds it and what the eyes see or can't see. We insert these elements into the mental grid we already have on that specific subject. Often, as with the pieces of the puzzle you have before you, we feel that we still do not have enough information. We still cannot make conclusions or insist to others that we have The Answer. At lease, Peggy (whose mind we are observing here) is by her nature humble and thus not about to insist that her view is the correct view.

         However, she is, by her nature, open; so we are privileged to explore in this book how her mind searches for knowledge. Let's look at the first thread of information, indicated with the initials DoD. These words come from a speech given in 1996 in Washington, D.C. at a symposium. The speaker is Emmett Paige, a retired Army Lieutenant General. Paige served in Korea and VietNam, specializing in communications. He lived through the immense changes in the character of warfare, brought on by the advances in communication technology in the last few decades. The second thread picks up some strong statements made by the Oxford historian, Avi Shlaim, author of "Iron Wall." Dr. Shlaim is a Jewish supporter of the rights of Palestinians to a physical homeland. How is this thread connected to General Paige?

         Maybe it is not connected. That is your task to figure out. CNN has a reporter in Iraq, Brent Sadler. In April of 2003, he was reporting live during the war, when his entourage was fired on. This shocked both Sadler and the viewing public. We have been strongly conditioned to consider news reporters to be somehow immune to the disasters that they tell us about. Reporters have the action going on, just over their shoulders, but we think of them as a type of Ebert & Roeper, who sit in front of fake action, telling us about the entertainment. Is Sadler's experience connected to General Paige's work? The fourth thread involves a few notes from ABC news, a "source you can trust." How do we make sense of these written threads? And why are the images reproduced here so blurry? The second question can be answered: Satellite video phone image lose information when transmitted. The first question the artist does not answer. She will not impose in that way. It is up to you. What happened in the war back in April 2003? Why was is fought? What was the cost? How do you know that?

 ––  Dr. Susan Delaney, Professor of Art History, MiraCosta College, Oceanside, CA

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