“I had the pleasure of interviewing the creator of the Warrior Story Field, Robert Bellows.
My questions to him:
What is this art installation about?
What is it meant to elicit and what was your motivation for bringing it into being?”
~Thiago Leao
Thiago Leao has worked with veterans for the past 2 years. Originally from Brazil, Thiago has experience and exposure to the harsh realities of social inequalities and the correlated violent outcomes they produce. In Thiago’s view, working with veterans has attested to the conclusion that, as a society we generally have a tendency to offset responsibility for that which we don’t see. It stands then, that, that which we don’t see must nevertheless be dealt with. Nowhere does this become as clear, as in the case of war. In short, the brunt of the equation is that the soldier not only has to deal with the psychological and physical brunt of war – they also, whether wanting or not, liking it or not, become the storehouse of our collective ignorance insofar as our impact on the world goes. In essence, a burden no one person should ever carry.