Public Art

Homeland Security

The outline image of the border of the continental United States is an American icon.  It is a mixture of natural geological elements, like rivers and coastlines, combined with a cartesian construction of imagined lines strung across the landscape to separate political, ethnic, and idealogical groups. It is the legal demarcation of our boundries creating citizens, aliens, and immigrants (legal and illegal). Since September 11, 2001 we have been obsessed as a country with this imagined shell. We are in the process of trying to literally build this shell as an impenetrable fence, particularly along the US/Mexican Border. I decided to manifest this obsession by building the first version of “Homeland Security” in Griffner, Austria where I was invited for an outdoor exhibition in 2006. It is a simple garden fence, with no gates, that is meant to keep unwanted pests or aliens out of the garden. “Homeland Security” is a symbol of the American dream and the American nightmare.  The second version of “Homeland Security” was commissioned by the Austin Art In Public Places Program as part of the Texas Biennial in 2008. That version has been repaired and reinstalled for the next four months at HemisFair Park here in San Antonio. It is visible from the street level at the intersection of South Alamo and Durango streets. It is also visible from the HemisFair Tower some 750 feet in the air above San Antonio.

As I said, It is the American dream and the American nightmare.  It is what we live with everyday.

Ken Little 2010

"Homeland Security" 2006 in Griffner Austria; 32"H x 50'Wide x 30'D; Made as part of the XYZ International Art Symposium sponsored by the Griffnerhaus, Griffner, Austria
"Homeland Security" (Detail of the Big Bend of the Rio Grande) 2006 in Griffner Austria
"Homeland Security" (Painting the fence) 2006 in Griffner Austria
"Homeland Security" 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas as part of the public commission side of the 7th Texas Biennial Exhibition. These are the installing day shots.
"Homeland Security"(Installation shots) 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security"(Installation shots) 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security"(Installation shots) 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security"(Installation shots) 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security"(Installation shots) 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security"(Installation shots) 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security"(Installation shots) 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security"(Installation shots) 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security"(Installation shots) 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security" 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security"(Installation shots) 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security"(Installation shots) 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security"(Installation shots) 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security"(Installation shots) 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security" 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security" (The Canadian Border) 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security" (The Atlantic coast from Maine) 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security" (The Great Lakes looking towards Florida) 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security" (The West coast looking north) 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security" (Louissianna and the Texas Gulf Coast) 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security" (Florida towards the Texas Gulf Coast) 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security" 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security" 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security" 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security" 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security" 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Homeland Security" 2009 at the Long Center in Austin, Texas
"Drill" 2004; Cast Bronze; 72"H x 96"W x 96"D; a public Commission for the City of Cheyenne, Wyoming. This is an allegorical statement with three native Wyoming animals, an antelope, a coyote, and a jackrabbit, all looking at a toaster.
"Drill" 2004; a public Commission for the City of Cheyenne, Wyoming
"Drill" 2004; a public Commission for the City of Cheyenne, Wyoming
"Drill" (Coyote and the Toaster) 2004; a public Commission for the City of Cheyenne, Wyoming
"Drill" (Jackrabbit and Coyote with the Toaster) 2004; a public Commission for the City of Cheyenne, Wyoming
"Drill" 2004; a public Commission for the City of Cheyenne, Wyoming