“I don’t want to preach to the converted,” said artist Jim Constanzo. “I want everybody to see the work I have done.”
New York-based visual artist Constanzo recently rented a billboard from Viacom Communications on the exit tube of the Holland Tunnel to place his pro-peace message for drivers to see. With the threat of war with Iraq looming, Constanzo believes as many people should see an alternative message than the one from pro-war forces.
“The billboard is an attempt to engage the public in a discussion about human rights and the basic principles this country was founded on,” said Constanzo.
The billboard, which will be at the Holland Tunnel location until the end of March, reads: “Freedom” in large gold letters, followed by the sentence “1 Iraq = 1 American = 1 Afghan = 1 Israeli =1 Palestinian = 1 World = 1 People.” The background of the sign is a picture of the Afghan landscape Constanzo took while he was in the Middle East during the 1990s.
“Historically, the U.S. has been divided over who is allowed to have ‘unalienable rights,” said Costanzo. “Because of the government’s response to recent events like Sept. 11, it seems clear that those who hold true to the best of this country’s ideals must be heard.”
While Constanzo deplores the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World trade Center and the Pentagon, he is displeased with the Bush administrations response to the attacks.
“I believe that most Americans don’t want to attack people and are not in favor of a war with Iraq,” said Constanzo. “The Bush government does not seem to see that what we do will have a reaction in the future.”
To prove his point, Constanzo pointed to the American government’s support of the Afghan anti-Russian forces after the Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan in the 1980s.
“We supported Bin-Laden and the Taliban,” Constanzo stated. “The 9/11 events were a crime against humanity, it was wrong. But we have done wrong things, too.”
According to Constanzo, large numbers of Iraq children have died as a result of the trade embargo imposed on Iraq after the Persian Gulf War in the early 1990s. The embargo, imposed by the United Nations, was instituted when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 and still remains in effect.
“Most Americans don’t know the damage that embargo has done to the people of Iraq,” said Constanzo, adding the embargo had no effect on the country’s dictatorial government.
The billboard on Holland Tunnel is not Constanzo’s first foray into socially committed art. From 1989 to 2000, Constanzo was part of the Repo History Group.
“The Repo History Group was, at its largest, a collection of 25 artists who did socially committed art in a public forum,” Costanzo explained. “We concentrated on issues of human rights and economic justice.”
In 1992, the Repo History Group put up signs in the area of the New York Stock Exchange that showed a stockbroker falling with a red line falling next to him.
“We were criticizing the effects deregulation would have on industry and the economy,” Constanzo said. “We thought deregulation of things like the energy industry and finance would lead to fraud.”
Costanzo points to the bankruptcy last year of the Enron corporation as proof of what the Repo History group was preaching.
“I hate to say we told you so, but we did,” said Constanzo.
After 2000, the membership of the Repo History Group declined and eventually the organization disbanded.
“A lot of people got married or relocated,” said Constanzo. “I decided to do more personal art projects.”
Since then, Constanzo has had exhibits in both New York and New Jersey and works as a drawing and art teacher at the Pratt Institute. The “Freedom” billboard is sponsored by a non-profit artist group in Manhattan called Whiteboxny, according to Constanzo.
“The group helped with the $900 bill to produce the billboard and rent the space,” said Constanzo. “The billboard will be there until March 23.”
“I hope people will see there is an alternative view to world politics than we have in America now,” said Constanzo.
The web site for more information on Constanzo’s billboard, go to www.whiteboxny.org.