Friendly Fire (2024)
Black ash, poplar, milk paint, cherry pits, sewing pins, assorted veneer
16” W x 16” H x 3” D
Inquire
In response to the assasination of its major general Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s military retaliated by shooting missiles at Ain al-Asad, a U.S. airbase in Iraq. 109 U.S service members suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of the strike.¹
Donald Trump originially reported that “no Americans were harmed in [the] attack.” Following updated injury reports from the Defense Department, Trump commented that some U.S. personnel “had headaches and a couple of other things, but [...] it is not very serious."
More than 300 former NFL players have been posthumously diagnosed with a degenerative brain disease known as CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy).² Until an official acknowledgement in 2016, the NFL’s language surrounding the controversy was similarly obtuse.
Through a porthole, two players collide. Is that a friend or a foe? Was that a firework or a missile? Does it matter who holds the gun if you still get shot?
Friendly Fire commemorates the “collateral damage” in two of the United States’ most beloved pastimes: war and American Football.
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¹ Chappel, Bill. “109 U.S. Troops Suffered Brain Injuries In Iran Strike, Pentagon Says,” NPR News, Feburary 2020.
² Sullivan, Becky. “A third of former NFL players surveyed believe they have CTE, researchers find,” NPR News, September 2024.