Posted on 02/09/2005 10:44:05 PM PST by hipaatwo
By MARK REYNOLDS The Providence Journal February 08, 2005
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Jeffrey Eden devised his award-winning project less than 30 minutes after his high-school art teacher asked him to express a thought or two in a three-dimensional way.
So, in the wake of last year's polarizing election and the war in Iraq, the 17-year-old built an abstract scene comparing President Bush's war policies with Adolf Hitler's pillage of Europe.
The student's diorama-like assemblage juxtaposes Hitler quotes with Bush statements, Nazi swastikas with American flags, desert-colored toy soldiers with olive plastic figures. And so on.
Eden said he's trying to point out certain similarities between the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the German blitzkrieg - without actually equating Hitler to Bush.
In this, the success of his project is debatable.
Nonetheless, it has earned the Charlestown student a silver key at the Rhode Island Scholastic Art Awards. It has also tested the contest's commitment to an overriding principle: that students should be encouraged to express their own thoughts through art.
The piece, titled "Bush/Hitler and How History Repeats Itself," triggered a complaint soon after it was displayed at a store with other award-winning entries last week.
"It's offensive to me," said Paul Lewis, a 34-year-old North Providence man.
Lewis asked that Eden's piece be removed and phoned newspapers as well as TV stations. He said he sees zero relationship between the policies of Bush and Hitler.
"It's a stretch," he said.
Lewis said the piece poorly conveys what Eden told The Providence Journal he was trying to convey because it leaves too much to interpretation. Someone might think the artist believes the president is as evil as Hitler, he said.
"I believe he should have been a lot more clear in putting those two things together," Lewis said.
The store refused to remove the exhibit, but the store did attach a disclaimer. The views of the artist do not represent the store, it said.
"We don't censor art," said store owner Hershel Alpert. "We're not in the business of censoring art."
Eden hopes to study art after he graduates from Chariho Regional High School next year. Eden said that although he supports U.S. soldiers, he believes the invasion of Iraq was unjustified.
The recent election in Iraq has not changed his views.
"At the time we invaded we did not have the justification nor the intelligence to take him (Saddam Hussein) out the way we did," he said.
Eden thinks the work is comparing Hitler and Bush - not equating them.
"I felt I was clear about what I was trying to get across," he said. "I believe those who misconstrued the artwork didn't take the time to really read into it."
His teacher, Lynn Norton, believed he got his point across. She gave him an A.
Why am I not the least bit surprised? Remember when someone put a crucifix in a jar of pee and called it Piss-Christ and some are museum displayed it? What a lot of heathens there are in this world.
If this took place in Germany, the kid would be arrested. (showing the Nazi symbol, and all). But in the US, he gets an award. Interesting...
Sounds like this kid will be serving lattes at Starbucks after his art study. That's the only type of job art history majors can get after college...
I'm sure we'll be seeing this kid on every chat show that can book him. I can already see the gleam in the eyes of Katie Couric and Chris Matthews.
I taught middle school for 7 years, and if a student handed in a project like that, the last thing I would do is display it publicly. That is just asking to stir up controversy. Looks like everybody is trying to find his/her 15 minutes of fame by jumping on the Bush Bash Bus.
uggh.
He is an ignorant little child.
A former employer of mine used to describe some people like, "He doesn't even know that he doesn't know, making him stupid and dangerous to be around."
Describes this kid to a tee.
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Now we know what is wrong with the kids....its the teachers! This is about the dumbest liberal thing I have seen lately.
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