“Counting Lives Lost: Making Abstract Numbers Tangible" - Kathleen Crocetti

Kathleen Crocetti is a Blue Star mother whose son is serving the country in the Air Force is the author of this installation. The traveling sculpture installation, depicts the almost 4,274 American casualties and almost 99,000 Iraqi dead since the beginning of the war in Iraq, each represented by a five-inch clay figure placed in a base of tons of sand. You can find more of her work here and at other sites. Kathleen Crocetti says:

“The aim of this work is to honor those who have died as respectfully as possible while making the growing abstract number visible and tangible,”. “This memorial is also a call to measure the true cost of war. It is time that we, as a nation, recognize not just our losses, but the losses we have caused.” “War memorials are usually constructed after the cessation of violence. Honoring those who have died on both sides of the battlefield while the battle continues to rage makes this work political. War is war. This installation is not about how and why we got into this situation, rather how and when we will get out of it.” “We need to start the grieving process now because it is painful and uncomfortable, and the the sooner we start acknowledging our culpability and responsibility, the sooner we will stop inflicting grief upon others.”

We are all responsible. No more silence.