The Rose Militia. The What.

My recent piece, The Rose Militia, uses it's surface, an old book cover, to comment on the simple but often ignored reality that things change and what was originally intended is not always what ultimately results.

Just as the author, the designer, and the publisher of Roses of the World never expected or planned for the cover to become the surface of a contemporary painting, all too many people fail to criticize those who require it simply because of positive contributions of the past.

This is not to say that past contributions should be forgotten, but more that the past should not create infallibility.

The Rose Militia plays off this idea by using the book cover imagery from a rather pleasant, positive, and non-aggressive topic, roses, to create a piece about conflict and aggression. Despite the fact that the author, designer and publisher created the book and cover, most likely, to inform, entertain and add to the joy of life, the current form comments on war, uprising and erases the majority of imagery originally employed.

The original intention of the object has been completely forgotten and one would never interpret the current form as such...let's all try to remember that the same can be said for many of the people, institutions, and organizations that surround and influence us.