The Art of Protest
The Peace Tower erected in Chicago's Cultural Center was designed as an emblem of the fury and frustration over the war in Iraq. But the stirring images hung from the monument have gained little notice.
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George W. Bush is also a ubiquitous presence. In one panel, his face has been redone to give him the appearance of a red-eyed demon. Another panel reads: "President," "Commander in Chief," and "War Criminal," in stark black letters.
Yet, for all of the artistic indignation on display in the current Peace Tower, the work has provoked a very different – some might say indifferent – response than its predecessor did 40 years ago. The original Peace Tower was considered radical when it was erected at the height of the country’s internal conflict over the Vietnam War. More than a mere expression of artistic talent, the original was a symbol of the emotional debate raging in the country about our involvement in the war in Southeast Asia. Today, it’s a different story.
"There was a draft back then, and it was touching people's lives in a way that they didn't have control, they felt more passionate about it, and they were much more active in their protest," says contributing artist Marie Kirk Burke. "Where here, it seems like there is a separation between what's happening in the war and what's happening in our lives, and so, this being in a gallery setting is kind of a metaphor for how the war is actually impacting our lives. It doesn't seem to be as visceral, as personal as it was then. It's diffused by media, diffused by our separation from government, and from everything that's happening."
Many attribute the tepid response to the current Peace Tower – and initially to the war, itself – to the fact that a smaller percentage of the population had a stake in the invasion. "So few people are affected personally that it doesn't garner any attention. I think that if the draft was actually a part of our life now, the reaction to the war across the board would be much more powerful, much more vocal," says Ted Stanuga, a Vietnam veteran and participating artist . To generate a more powerful response, he thinks we need something other than art to shock us. "Once you’re used to something, you need something more intense and more violent to be astounded again. We need something much stronger, than artwork to get the same interest that was generated by the first one." He pauses. "I’m not sure what it would be, it probably doesn’t exist yet."
The original Peace Tower was created in 1966 by the Artists’ Protest Committee (APC), which wanted to make a public and visual statement against the war. They rented an empty lot on the Strip at the corner of Sunset and La Cienega Boulevards in Los Angeles and di Suvero began construction on a 58 foot-tall tower. A large 100-foot fence ran the entire length of the lot, on which 418 panels sent in from artists all over the world were hung in a brilliant patchwork of colors and styles. Pictures from 1966 newspaper and magazine articles about the Tower show it festooned with peace symbols and stars and slogans. "Artists Protest Vietnam War," was painted on the fence in big letters to the left of the tower.
It garnered worldwide attention and daily press. People flocked to the tower, but not just to praise it. Some counter-protesters attempted set fire to the art, and one night a group of marines charged the tower.
