Targets 1985-1986

This group of work considers the standard Police Silhouette Target, what it represents and how it is used. In its original form, as a generic male figure, it is used to prepare police for armed encounters with real human beings. In the context of practice range, the act of shooting at the representation of another human being appears deceptively simple and abstract. This work explores the complexity of this situation and the potential confrontations.

In these pieces the target’s interiors contain various signs and symbols that extend the reading of the silhouette shape and refer to universal qualities that contribute to what it means to be human: Life, Death , Logic, Romance etc. The initial reading of the target shape is given depth and complexity by this interior information, inviting the viewer to reconsider who is being targeted.