The background to this sculpture began long ago with a recurring dream that interrupted my nights as a child.
I dreamed I had been shot on a battlefield and the small birthmark over my heart was evidence of that experience.
I came to believe these dreams might have been scenes from another life I had lived, one where my life was taken unjustly.
Over time the dream faded and I rarely thought about it except when I was confronted with historical narratives in films and books pertaining to the First World War.
Rage, anxiety and resentment would sweep over me when I learned of the incompetence of the military command of the time, and the excessive waste of human life that ensued.
One French commander in particular really rankled me – General Ferdinand Foch, who didn’t think twice about ordering his men into impossible situations, sacrificing them like they were toy soldiers.
He also shot an incredible number of men for mutiny, cowardice or desertion when they failed to obey his orders.
After the War French politicians hailed him as a hero and when I heard a biography of this pathetic and unfit leader was in the works, my indignation could not be contained.
I created this sculpture to honor those men who were treated so unfairly and to remind myself that atrocities are still committed today in the name of war and human rights are still being stripped from individuals. Guantanamo is still there.
By Blake and Boky