While reporting by Arun Venugopal seems to suggest that flying an American flag is “intimidating” for some viewers (not sure about that one), another headline about flags caught my eye.
Steve Watkins is running for a US House seat, seeking to replace a retiring GOP member in a red district in Kansas. The primary is in August, which will choose one of the many Republicans to probably win in November—Trump won this area handily. Watkins is using an art display to generate some free media that focuses on his own military service. Watkins makes his experience as a part of the Long Gray Line and time as a Captain in the Army in Afghanistan very central in his own campaign biography.
Apparently, a “public art project” at the University of Kansas entitled “Pledges of Allegiance” commissioned artists to add images to American flags. The example that piqued Watkins’ ire features two dark splotches near the center of the flag. The museum tweeted a response the the criticism that others began to echo after Watkins that says it’s all about a polarized America:
The purpose of the series is to raise discussion about topics of national importance. The current flag is by artist Josephine Meckseper, and it addresses division in the U.S. The black color field is an abstracted representation of the U.S. divided in two parts.
— SpencerMuseum of Art (@SpencerMuseum) July 11, 2018
(photo credit to Roger Sayles)
Jeremy Teigen 