Object Acquisition # 77- 106.1.81 German Field Surgical Kit

Documenting objects from The Hunt Show:

Object Acquisition # 77- 106.1.81 German Field Surgical Kit

Object interpreted and Statement by 

Allie Bentley     http://www.etsy.com/shop/alliebonline

At the time of conception for this project the US was actively fighting war in four countries. The year is 2011.  

When I began “The Hunt” earlier this winter and experienced my object I couldn’t help but become overwhelmed by the sadness of war. My original object being a World War II German Surgical Field Kit had been used in active duty. The box – not much bigger than a shoebox – shone brightly in high-polished steel and held tray after tray of instruments meticulously fit inside one another for known placement upon urgent need.  

I felt a sense of uselessness for this entire object. If it exists only to heal or cure those who do harm, why heal them? Why heal the warmonger if they will only continue to cause death and destruction?

I’ve titled this piece, “…And after all the years we still haven’t learned to love” (from the 1960’s film It Started in Naples) because I feel as though we, the human race, haven’t learned to love.  We haven’t learned from our history of death and destruction; haven’t moved forward from those fighting days in World War II when today, we continue this uselessness.