I started constructiing this creature today. It is crude and selfish, but shiny and outgoing. It eats up whatever it wants and shits out sludge. I'm not sure how it is doing as a piece though, but it is really satisfying to play with. I have been putting coats of acrylicpoly and black paint on it all day and boy it is glossy.

And all I can think of is the phrase "war is gross".

George Myers and Emily (I don't know her last name but remember she was wearing the most amazing knitted dress) were making buttons at my old job four years ago, and they gave me a button that said this. I lost the button last year. I think this phrase is really interesting and maybe my favorite in the regards to thinking about wars. It is the kind of thing were it is not saying bad or good (well one could argue that gross is bad, but gross has the potential to be more complex than that). The reader can think about what gross in the context of war means.

This fabric pattern came out during the first Gulf War. It is a type of camouflage. That's why I am thinking about war while making it. It is a really neat pattern and has the look of a cross between and animal and landscape. I kind of think this creature maybe is a spirit of war, if we want to go there. Maybe it is like the slug that Yubaba put in Haku in the movie "Spirited Away". Maybe someone needs to make George Bush (and others in the administration) throw this creature up and squash it.

just a thought, good night

ps. thanks to Karen Wirth who gave me this fabric.