{"product_id":"defense-language-9781915423986","title":"Defense Language","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe photographs in \u003ci\u003eDefense Language \u003c\/i\u003eshow costumed role-players, elaborate Hollywood-inspired sets and staged tableaus on military bases across the United States.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Artist Claire Beckett embedded herself on these bases between 2006 and 2023 to explore the depiction of Arabs and Muslims during counterinsurgency training for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.'With this project I look at the way Americans such as myself interact with other cultures. The photographs draw attention to the problematic depiction of 'cultural others' in these trainings, challenging the implicit assumption of American cultural superiority.'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThose portrayed in the photographs include military personnel--often combat veterans playing the role of enemy combatants--immigrants from Iraq or Afghanistan intended to make the training look and feel realistic, and local American civilians hired to populate the artificial villages. The photographs include a combination of formal portraits, landscapes depicting makeshift constructed buildings, and more informal images of the figures interacting within the training scenarios.;\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe photographs were made at Fort Drum, New York; Fort Irwin, California; Fort Jackson, South Carolina; Fort Polk, Louisiana; The Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (Twentynine Palms), California; and The Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center, California.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eClaire Beckett\u003c\/b\u003e is a photographer whose work offers a critical lens on American identity. Claire's\u003cbr\u003esolo exhibitions include the Wadsworth Atheneum, Carroll and Sons Gallery, and Journée\u003cbr\u003ePhotographiques de Bienne; group shows include the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Mass MoCA, \u003cbr\u003ethe National Portrait Gallery, and Aperture Foundation. Beckett has been awarded an Artadia Award\u003cbr\u003eand was artist-in-residence at Light Work. Collections include the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the\u003cbr\u003eNelson-Atkins Museum, Fidelity Investments and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Gost Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52179972784402,"sku":"9781915423986","price":43.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_87a2dcd6-f6e7-4afb-bd7d-8f06973cfad6.jpg?v=1775641340","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/defense-language-9781915423986","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}