In BS We Trust
I recently came across the photobook “In Guns We Trust” by Canadian “lens-based visual artist” Jean-Francois Bouchard, published in 2019 by the Magenta Foundation, “a trailblazing charitable arts-publishing house that consistently showcases the work of talented artists on a global scale, drawing attention to under-represented and emerging artists with powerful exhibitions and a roster of impressive international publications.” The book is mainly composed of photos of white Americans, men for the most part in heroic poses holding oversized guns in front of majestic desert landscapes, interspersed with the various bullet-ridden objects, mostly foreign cars and woman-shaped mannequins, that they target at a large shooting range in Arizona.
At first I thought it must be a parody rather than a serious attempt at photographic exploration, but when I read the text by Canadian novelist Douglas Coupland, it would seem that the people behind this project genuinely thought they were doing something other than simply glorifying ultraconservative white Americans’ gun fixation. There is not even the slightest mention of the dire situation and human cost created and constantly exacerbated by this obsession. Rather, Coupland bends over backward to insist, in this most ludicrous of terms, that the book’s one-sidedness is in fact a comprehensive view; those asking if this is “gonzo ethnography”, Coupland says, “incorrectly assume that Bouchard sees his subjects as being very different from himself, when in fact, he does not. It’s just that they possess a pesky 21st century one little thing that sets them apart. It seems everyone has at least one, if not more. Bouchard’s work asks the viewer, ‘What’s yours?'” This man then actually equates gun obsession with being gay, a woman, anti-vax, anti-abortion, or addicted to meth.
“The main goal of this body of work is to gain a better understanding of the impact of the military ethos in civil society,” Coupland goes on, oblivious to the fact that imagery of gun owners standing proudly in the desert next to bullet-riddled Hondas does exactly none of that. To those who see America’s gun obsession as a serious issue, Coupland suggest such people live in their own bubbles, adding “Why be so quick to dismiss something because it’s not your thing? Where is empathy? Where is nuance?” I’d actually like to know the answers to those questions, because they were nowhere to be found in this book.
Bouchard himself admits, “To be honest, I have more in common with these people than feels acceptable to acknowledge.” You think?
The shallowness of such projects echoes the disturbing trend in the media of, in an effort to court “both sides”, completely abandoning objectivity and embracing dangerously extremist views. It’s not just the New York Times, it seems to be encroaching upon many areas of discourse these days. It’s one reason I decided to make my visit to the U.S. sooner than later, as I have no idea where this road leads, but I’m afraid that light up ahead isn’t the end of the tunnel, but rather tracer bullets lighting up the remains of artistic introspection.
Ahoy Poagao,
very well put. As a German, I often feel very out off by all that gun waving of the US Americans. There’s nothing to be gained by that and so much to be lost.
About your last point, the bothsideism, I have some thoughts. We can currently observe similar movements in the political discourse in Germany where there’s a lot of “let’s hear both sides” in public talkshows and such (all the while mainly inviting right wing extremists). What do you feel, how is it in Taiwan? Is bothsideism a phenomenon there as well or is it kept in check?
All the best, Fred
Comment by Fred — May 1, 2024 @ 12:55 am
Thanks for the comment Fred. When you talk about “bothsidesism” in Germany, do you mean Germans saying things like, “Well, Hitler and the Nazis had some good points as well?” Because that would seem concerning.
Here in Taiwan it doesn’t seem to be quite that bad…for now. We’ll see how things go though.
Comment by Poagao — May 2, 2024 @ 12:55 am