Mexico's Drug War

Mexico's Drug War courtesy of Boston.com by Alan Taylor. 

Bodies awaiting autopsies crowd a walk-in refrigerator at the morgue in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Feb. 18, 2009. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A recently constructed section of the controversial US-Mexico border fence expansion project crosses previously pristine desert sands at sunrise on March 14, 2009 between Yuma, Arizona and Calexico, California. The new barrier between the US and Mexico stands 15 feet tall and sits on top of the sand so it can lifted by a machine and repositioned whenever the migrating desert dunes begin to bury it. The almost seven miles of floating fence cost about $6 million per mile to build. (David McNew/Getty Images)

A border patrol vehicle drags the sand to make any new footprints of border crossers more visible along a recently constructed section of the controversial US-Mexico border fence expansion on previously pristine desert sands on March 14, 2009 between Yuma, Arizona and Calexico, California. (David McNew/Getty Images)

A man is seen on his kness after being arrested by soldiers in a home where Central American migrants were being held hostage by a kidnapping gang in Reynosa, Mexico, late Tuesday, March 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)

Forensic workers remove one of nine bodies found at a plot on the outskirts of the border city of Ciudad Juarez March 14, 2009. An anonymous call led police to a site where at least nine bodies were found in a shallow grave local media reported. (REUTERS/Alejandro Bringas)

Shoes used for smuggling marijuana are displayed in the Drug Museum at the headquarters of the Mexican Ministry of Defense in Mexico City March 9, 2009. High precision rifles, a diamond and gold encrusted mobile phone, clandestine laboratories for drug processing and many more items that once belonged to drug traffickers are displayed in this private museum used by the military to show the soldiers the lifestyle of the Mexican drug lords. (REUTERS/Jorge Dan Lopez)

Federal police officers sit aboard an aircraft while flying to the border city Ciudad Juarez in Mexico, Monday, March 2, 2009. The deployment is part of a troop increase of 5,000 men planned for this city which has been hit hard by organized crime related violence. (AP Photo/Miguel Tovar)

Follow the link for more photos. There is a strong tone and story line being portrayed through this series of still images. Be warned, some photos are extremely graphic.

Technique

I recently discovered the work of Paul Edmunds. What is interesting about his work is the use of utilic materials to create dynamic forms. This work is from his show "Subtropicalia" in 2009. 

Edmund writes "This body of work began with a short story I wrote about my childhood in Johannesburg in the 70s and 80s and the insatiable interest I had in surfing and skateboarding. I use this as a kind of template through which to view my work, which is characterised by pattern, process and the use of unconventional materials, often resulting in an interpretation which emphasizes its abstract concerns over any others. This device reveals my abiding interest in repetitive form, design, colour and material to be firmly rooted in memory and sensory experiences that I evoke in the abovementioned story. The series of sculptures, two-dimensional pieces and a video work explore waveforms, symmetry and process in a variety of media across a range of scales. All photographs by Mario Todeschini"


I am interested in the relation between the stories, the written and the tactile. As the thesis moves forward I will be working through creative written works as well as physical work. 

Mapping America

Che

Check out this amazing new map that operates on a google map platform but reveals census data down to the city and the block.  Mapping America