Brian Harper

  • Bio
  • cv
  • Statement
  • Artwork
    • Bunker Series
    • Scaffolding Series – JCPenny Home™ Collection
    • Scaffolding Series – Asteroids
    • Oscillations
    • Trans/pher
    • Standardized Test for Congress
    • Diplomatic Cables
    • New Myth Series
    • Strings in the Aether
    • The Open Crowd Project
    • Photographs
  • Teaching
    • Teaching Philosophy
    • Student Work
    • Kilns / Projects
      • IUS Anagama
      • IUS Cross-draft Soda Kiln
      • Gulf Coast Kiln Walk
      • St. Pete Kiln
      • Flagstaff Kiln
      • Taos Kiln
      • Bendel’s Mural
  • Curatorial
    • Boundless
    • The Ephemeral, The Evolving
    • Transition Points
    • Strange Attractors
    • The Air & The ground
    • Filtered Permeability
    • Artaxis Exhibition – Philadelphia
    • Bread and Roses (student exhibition)
    • CONNECT (student exhibition)
    • ZHEYNA (student exhibition)
    • Clean Fossils (student exhibition)
    • Unrelated and Unrestricted (student exhibition)
  • Life

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Bunker Series

 
The “Bunker Series” work is inspired by recent trips to Denmark and Iceland, where I was able to visit several sites where abandoned World War II concrete bunkers still exist. The bunkers outside of Skagen, Denmark sit right on the beach, some of them listing on their sides and sinking into the sand while they struggle to withstand the test of time. The bunkers I visited outside of Reykjavik are being overtaken by vegetation and the forest. Seeing these monolithic structures being consumed by the land and the sea, I was struck by the simplicity of their destruction. Just earth, water, and time and these powerful features of war, designed to be impenetrable, permanent, and battle ready, are being overtaken.

In his book “Bunker Archaeology”, French cultural theorist and philosopher, Paul Virilio writes that “However impressive the ramparts may be, they owe their value to being constantly and totally manned and occupied.” The bunkers on the beaches outside of Skagen and the hillsides outside of Reykjavik have long since been vacated and their purpose has disappeared along with their occupants.

As I stood alone inside one of the bunkers outside Reykjavik, looking out of the thin slots meant for artillery, I felt a profound sense of isolation. I can only imagine the feeling of being in one those bunkers during wartime, and the feeling of protection, and yet also vulnerability that must have come from these structures.

In the “Bunker Series” work, I reference that sense of emptiness I felt when seeing those bunkers, as well as the range of metaphors the bunker can encompass. On the one hand, they are objects of aggression, but on the other hand they are objects of protection. They are often entrenched on beautiful beaches and hillsides creating an odd juxtaposition between their former menacing power and the current landscape. As Paul Virilio states, their power (and purpose) is owed to human occupation. When the reasons for their occupation become obsolete, their power also vanishes. In this work, I partly use the bunker to symbolize the war machine in the United States, but also the futility of our armed occupations.

I am also interested in the bunker as a political metaphor and how it can be used to reference entrenched ideology. Often it is entrenched ideology that can lead to the construction of bunkers in the first place. Deeply rooted ideas can seem immovable, but when the landscape around them changes, so too can the foundations of those ideas. Like the sand and water slowly overtaking the bunkers in Denmark and Iceland, one time powerful ideologies can be overtaken by shifting thought processes.

 

Bunker Series: Station
Bunker Series: Station
Bunker Series: Station

Bunker Series: Station
ceramic, wood, stained epoxy
16” W x 16” D x 9” H
2022

 

Bunker Series: Pillar and Pillbox
Bunker Series: Pillar and Pillbox
Bunker Series: Pillar and Pillbox
Bunker Series: Pillar and Pillbox

Bunker Series: Pillar and Pillbox
ceramic, wood, stained epoxy
16” H x 9” D x 9” W
2022

 

Bunker Series: Square Pillbox
Bunker Series: Square Pillbox
Bunker Series: Square Pillbox
Bunker Series: Square Pillbox

Bunker Series: Square Pillbox
ceramic, wood, stained epoxy
18” W x 16” D x 8” H
2022

 

Bunker Series: Sentry Pillbox
Bunker Series: Sentry Pillbox
Bunker Series: Sentry Pillbox
Bunker Series: Sentry Pillbox

Bunker Series: Sentry (Pillbox #01)
terracotta, wood, stained epoxy
10” W x 10” D x 7” H
2019
 

Bunker Series: Unnamed Post
Bunker Series: Unnamed Post
Bunker Series: Unnamed Post

Bunker Series: Unnamed Post
stoneware, wood, stained epoxy
14” W x 14” D x 7” H
2019
 

Bunker Series: Observation Post
Bunker Series: Observation Post
Bunker Series: Observation Post
Bunker Series: Observation Post
Bunker Series: Observation Post

Bunker Series: Observation Post with Container
terracotta, wood, stained epoxy
13” W x 13” D x 5” H
2019
 

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Copyright @ Brian Harper 2001-2019

 

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