Art and the Political Statement: Crazy Horse

*In my childhood my family lived close to the Crazy Horse Memorial near Rapid City,  South Dakota, U.S.A. This monument dedicated to Crazy Horse, the great Sioux Warrior impressed me as a boy, not only because of its size but because the “Black Hills” were considered the sacred mountains of the Sioux. A few miles down the road from Crazy Horse Memorial was the “Mount Rushmore” monument (the one with the 4 white American Presidents) right smack in the middle in of holy Sioux territory! -Even as a boy I always thought that this was Strange and Wrong. History is always written by the victors and Mount Rushmore was (and remains) a Statement of Power and Control, two terms I loathe. Gutzon Borglum, the “Artist/Artisan” who was ‘responsible’ for “Mount Rushmore” was also deeply involved in Ku Klux Klan politics. Looks like there was no Racism involved here!(sarcasm) -Like all my work “Crazy Horse” just “happened” and (as always) has more than one association: 1) The Motion and the “Construction Site feel” looks like the Crazy Horse Monument. 2) It also reminds me of the “Crazy Horse” burlesque theatre in Paris! “Legs up and over…”