The War Bowl

Plastic little army men are the same like the mini figures found in train sets but they have a purpose which is war. They look like a soldier, but some are in different position and weaponry. Many associate them as green army men, but they vary by war period and single color. They are very fragile because they are cheaply fabricated. It only depends on the little boy if he wants to kill one side or both sides by knocking them over or if he truly has mental problems melting them or breaking them.

I recall (from the video in class) the War Bowl from Dominic Wilcox and the horrific scene of blue army men melted and shaped into a bowl. There are two bowls one white with soldiers from both sides representing the English Civil War and the blue bowl with soldiers from the Battle of Waterloo. The blue and white soldiers appears to have been placed in a mold when they were melted because the outer side is smooth but the inside of the bowl has texture of grotesque scene of limps, bayonets, mini soldiers all warped and melted. The bowl itself in this inhuman texture appears broken from the top edges like a broken egg shell enhancing the effect. 

There are several remaining soldiers outside of the bowl in attack position ready to go forward. I like the close up picture focusing on these remaining soldiers in the foreground while the background is the ominous larger bowl. It does show the determination of an aggressive society with their strange perception of conquering no matter how many die for a “purpose”. It also is funny that it comes from plastic toy soldiers because our society allows little boys to play with these figures to make it think that war is okay and fun.

The bowl itself really reminds me of the Neue Sachilchkeit movement.  I think because the form is a bowl I think of bomb made craters that look like bowls from an aerial view. I also think of Otto Dix Der Krieg which is interesting because he was aerial observer and a gunner in WWI. His triptych scene in the middle and right panel displays the devastation of the landscape and the human bodies in various positions as if they are part of the apocalyptic terrain. A skeletal remain appears to be a tree or sign post pointing at the mound of bodies that blend with the crater filled landscape. One can see the depravity of war with both Dix triptych and Wilcox bowls by the manner in which they created their scenes. I’m glad his color wasn’t red because I think it would have made the pieces too heavy and overwhelming because red can mean chaos and blood and the viewer already can imagine that with the blue and white bowls.