In 2002 the administration of President George W. Bush cited intercepted aluminum tubes as evidence that Iraq was developing nuclear weapons and used this conclusion—later found to be false—to justify the U.S.-led invasion the following year. Composed of salvaged aluminum, Larner’s frenetic sculpture is a direct response to these events. The letters R, W, and B in the title refer to the red, white, and blue color scheme deployed, the artist notes, “to be patriotic, or nationalistic, or to gain power.” For Larner this sculpture explores “the truth and lies of material and how often the truth of history comes down to an object, a material, a thing.”
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