THE AMERICAN PROPHETS SERIES - Soft sculpture, painting, and social commentary unite in Zwack’s recent series which celebrates people who are symbols of hope; people who are speaking up, speaking out, and making their voices heard.

SELF PORTRAITS IN BONES -

IMAGES OF ITHACA/ LANDSCAPES -

GEOMETRIC DESIGNS -

ARTIST’S STATEMENT - By Annemarie Zwack

The earliest archeological remains of the modern wheel were discovered in what is now Iraq. They date back to about 3,500 BCE. Ancient Mesopotamian cultures invented written language around 3,100 BCE. “The world’s earliest known permanent settlements began in the Neolithic period in the Near East ca. 9000 BCE and spread gradually to the rest of the world”. 1 The land now called Iraq is site of some of humanity’s most important inventions—urban life and written language as a dizzying number of civilizations and empires. This rich history of humanity, and the United States’ destruction of it, inspired me to create the series “Where The Wheel Was Born.

After the 2004 American presidential election I decided that I had to do something. My heart ached at the destruction and loss of life that would continue in Iraq. While in an airplane looking down at our sphere, the earth, I wondered what I could do or say that would express my feelings about an unjust war and in some way begin to heal. An image of two Sumerian votive figurines with their huge eyes watching rose in my mind. Those ever-vigilant eyes seem to still be watching as the land of their birth is being destroyed. In any crime the possibility of a witness that can testify to what they have seen holds out hope that justice may be served. I decided to study the history of the land we now call Iraq. I wanted to gain a better understanding of the many layers of culture. I was also searching for lessons that apply to today.

Map making is an obvious place to start when one is trying to learn about a place. In examining the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates I quickly saw that time would have to be a coordinate as well. A dizzying number of civilizations and empires have risen and fallen here. I have chosen to focus on ancient and pre-Islamic, Islam’s golden age of architecture and city building, and the extremely recent post-invasion time period.

In studying ancient civilizations the Sumerians (in the south) and the Assyrians (from the north) stand out because of the striking archeological remains that they have left behind. I was inspired by many of these ancient works of art.

The Sumerians are the people who are credited with developing written language. Theirs was the predominant spoken language through out Southern Mesopotamia and long after it had died as a spoken language, it remained the language of written record. City-states are said to have started in Sumeria. Long after Sumeria was no longer the leading political power, it’s culture still held influence and it’s stories were told and rewritten. One artifact that remains from Sumerian culture is the Standard of Ur. Although there are no words in this linear narrative, the viewer can learn something about the kinds of animals, military dress and machinery, and customs familiar to these people. The two panels have distinct themes. One is clearly war. The other is a parade of items that could be captured in war. The spoils of war are paraded before seated male figures who drink as they are entertained. Inspired by the Sumerian description of war and its spoils I created Standard of Us. My translation is quite direct. Where the Sumerians used chariots I inserted tanks. The naked prisoners of Ur became the prisoners of Abu Graib. The booty of grain became a barrel of oil.

Images of lions in Assyrian art are a repeated theme. In Assyrian tradition the king would kill lions to demonstrate his power over nature. The lion becomes a symbol of nature and of power. In portraying so many images of dyeing, tortured or imperiled lions I felt the need to show a lion that still had the full force of it’s natural power. In fact one might say super-natural force. For this precedent I looked to Persian culture. (The Persian empire controlled Iraq for quite a while and even had their capital there at times.)

The Assyrian Empire’s annual military campaign to conquer and acquire more and more territory holds a lesson for modern imperialists. The Assyrians were quite successful at the conquering end of things (employing psychological warfare as well as severe physical tactics). It was the subsequent administrative end where things began to fall apart. The bigger they got, the more resources they needed to fuel the empire. In the end they simply couldn’t control all the territory that they had conquered. They had made quite a few enemies along the way, and when those enemies finally teamed up, it was over.

In the piece “Nature of Empire”, the central image on a red field shows an Assyrian twisting the tail of a lion. The lion is quite alive. It stands on its hind legs and turns its head to roar at its tormentor. My over arching feeling about this image is that is just isn’t a good idea to twist the lion’s tail. Not only could the person doing the twisting get hurt, but it is supremely disrespectful to the lion, a powerful and regal animal. Even if the lion is killed before it gets revenge, the perpetrator has sacrificed his own humanity in committing a cruel act. This is the nature of empire. It is not sustainable and it requires cruelty to achieve it.

History does repeat itself, but it doesn’t have to if we can learn from it. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. It has already been done.

1 Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia by Karen Nemet-Nejat 2002