The goal of this piece is to confront the viewer with the hypocrisy of the American “superpower” title and illustrate that reality is often less glorious than it first appears. 

By dropping the two atomic bombs in WWII, America began the nuclear age and so the Cold War arms race began. This left America no choice but to keep growing its weapons and military to become a global superpower. This superpower title gave the country major pride and an arrogance of power. Over time this spending has turned into a spiral of over militarization within the country. While America may feel great pride at the power within their military, they leave a trail of failed attempts to “nation build” around the globe. Since dropping the bomb in Hiroshima, America’s military have engaged in 5 major wars (Korea, Vietnam, Gulf war, Afghanistan, and Iraq) as well as over 20 other military operations around the world. Many of these efforts were more challenging and prolonged than could have been foreseen and often ended without achieving the original objective. This begs the question, should they have interfered in the first place? Did they feel an obligation as a superpower to act as the world’s policeman? 

When selecting my subject I wanted to ensure that I focused on a topic that still has consequences today. I grew up next door to the country deemed “the greatest in the world” by many, and as I learn more about the world that perfect image starts to crumble. I chose to represent this superficial image of the USA by depicting the long shadow of its heavy military presence.

Front and centre in the piece is a statue of a military soldier with an American flag placed on a sparkly base. The base colour purposefully resembles the oxidized copper of the Statue of Liberty and helps . The soldier is placed in the spotlight shone by a hidden flashlight. Not only does this light increase the perception of power and glory that America’s superpower represents, but it also adds dimension to the artwork. The light creates a long shadow which is filled with a collection of news headlines about American military efforts. I purposefully selected a mix of headlines from the beginnings and endings of these different historical conflicts. Diving even deeper, the usage of a shadow symbolizes the shadows of victims bodies left on the streets of Hiroshima by the atomic bomb, the so-called “Hiroshima Shadows”. Each aspect of this art piece is used in more than one way to connect all my ideas together. The piece shows my perspective but someone with an opposing view may feel it tells a different story about American power as it allows room for personal interpretation.  

While creating this artwork I deepened my knowledge on the sheer amount of military operations America has been involved in. It shocked me especially when I learned that prior to the Second World War America generally opted to stay out of international conflict. Working with three dimensional art was also a new and difficult challenge that I had to navigate while creating this. If I were to transform this concept into a professional art piece I would love to do it on a massive scale and have a life sized statue with an enormous shadow covering an entire wall. The larger scale would amplify the message I’m sending through my art. 

It is important to recognize that while the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima over 75 years ago, its historical impacts have changed all societies and cultures forever. America being the world power it is today and every news story that has come from that stems from the Manhattan project so many years ago.