While surfing on the websites that you steered us towards in class, I found an installation piece that I found to be particularly fascinating. The project, titled, “oil” by Tyler Adams, is comprised of a plastic box covered in oil. Inside the box is an electronic device that receives updates on every civilian death (war-related I assume) from Iraq. When the device receives the info, a small amount of oil is spewed from the top of the box to signify that a human life has been taken. I found this project fascinating not only because I was in the military and have many friends fighting in Iraq right now but also because I couldn’t decide if it was meant to be a preachy piece of art. The oil to me represents what the war in Iraq is partially about, but I think that the use of oil is also significant because the middle east is a hotbed of oil production. Overall, I enjoyed the piece because it makes one think about not only the American death toll but what the Iraqi people are suffering as well. In addition, I feel it is necessary to make people aware of that many other people are dying, and this piece is definitely effective in its simplistic yet to-the-point design. Jen Wood