WMD FOUND IN
JOHNSON CITY Tennessee http://www.wmdfound.com/
From Winged Mobile
Domicile to Warehouse of Mass Distribution 2005
A project designed and fabricated by
East Tennessee State University Basler Chair and Internationally acclaimed Conceptual Artist Mel Chin and his
undergraduate/graduate classes of 2004
was presented at ETSU's Homecoming,
October 30, 2004.
"WMD" is a full scale, 8 ft. diameter, 71 ft. long, missi
le-shaped structure built on the modified foundation of a mobile home trailer, with a totally finished exterior, all consistent with mobile home construction, including vinyl siding, aluminum windows, decorative light fixtures, and so on.
This design, a hybrid of a single-wide
mobile home and the s
hape of a weapon
of mass destruction--the "Peacekeeper
MX" nuclear defense missile--will have
a mission beyond its unusual look. The
ETSU group intended this formidable
construction project to have a life beyond the Homecoming event.
The interior structures will be
finished to accommodate storage
a
nd distribution uses. The intention
is to reuse the "rocketship" artwork
as a functional shelter. From it, food
products can be distributed at
Thanksgiving and Christmas, and
educational materials, such as youth
or adult literacy books, can be given.
Initially, the project served
the local Johnson C
ity community.
The art construction then traveled
across the country to be part of the
International Art Car Parade in the
spring of 2005 in Houston, Texas. It won the top prize.
The WMD project speaks all at once
to a variety of contemporary issues:
from Homecoming to Homeland
Security; from nomad
ic, American
lifestyle to space travel; from
military defense budgets to rural
poverty. It combines the concerns
of the most serious threat to national
security and celebrates the distinct
and original nature of American
humor and invention.
It is now being used to distribute food for the organizat
ion
Food--Not--Bombs. http://www.foodnotbombs.net/
Ericka Basile, Kara Bledsoe, Benjamin Burris, Kim Deakins, Angelique Dugger, Joan Elliott, Randall Green, Geoffrey Pratt, Allison Skelton, Rosie Sesler, William Kai Stephanos, Kevin Thrasher, Debbie Riggs, Jeremiah Jenkins, William Bledsoe, Urs
ula Bryant, Karlota Contreras-Koterbay, Amanda Dock, Marty Henley, Jessica Jones, Dave Kerns-McClelland, Catherine Martin, Tim McDonald and Garry Renfro worked with Mel Chin on the project.
http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/Detail.php?Cat=TEMPO &ID=47586
http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/Detail.php?Cat=TOPSTORIES &ID=42068
http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/Detail.php?Cat=HOMEPAGE &ID=42067
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