DISCOBALLBREAKER.

'For You, Anything' by James Clar, 2010

Whether you believe in love or not, chances are you've felt deeply enough about someone to risk life and limb for them. I love how this piece strips down any romantic and delicate notions to one visceral truth - there are no limits to love.

'For You, Anything' by James Clar, showing at Art Dubai 2010.

'A Moment Defined by a Point and a Line' by James Clar, 2010

James Clar is an American artist (and friend of discobb) who in March, will be debuting a new show entitled 'Acceleration'. The show explores various themes such as identity, violence and religion; as well as the profoundly human ideas of love and pleasure.

One of my favourite pieces is the one pictured above. In the words of the artist -

“The 3 pieces in this series each represent a historical assassination. They reduce a pivotal moment in history to basic math, the point of impact for each bullet and the angle of trajectory, displayed as lines of light intersecting a clear acrylic block.”

The subjects chosen for the series are Malcolm X, King Faisal, and Amadou Diallo - all of whom were the victims of brutal and politically driven shootings. Malcolm X was shot 15 times during a speech on black nationalism; King Faisal was shot by his nephew twice, in what is believed to be a CIA driven assassination; and police shot 41 bullets into Guinean immigrant Amadou Diallo - 19 of which hit him.

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The series brings up questions of ethnic and religious xenophobia as well as the current state of Western/Middle East ties. At the heart of it all though, each of the pieces takes an historically explosive (pun unintended) event and attempts to reduce it to a mathematical meeting of a point and a line.