WAR AND PEACE

Stencil art has been used in war and peace protests though out the years.  One of the more recent was on Normandy Beach where two British Artist stenciled hundred of dead body shapes on to Normandy Beach to show the incredible loss of life on D Day.  Looking down from the cliffs it at the shadow painted sand it is almost beyond ones comprehension that this could be so.  

"A pair of British artists have created this stunning installation of 9,000 silhouettes on a D-Day Landings beach to mark international Peace Day. The project, named, ‘The Fallen’ is a tribute to the civilians, German forces and Allies who lost their lives during the Operation Neptune landing on June 6, 1944. The design was the brainchild of Jamie Wardley, 33, and Andy Moss, 50. Together with a team of volunteers the pair travelled to Arromanches beach, Normandy, to create the silhouettes, which were individually drawn into the sand.

Those taking part made the shape of a person by putting down a stencil and raking the surface to create a distinctive figure. The shapes were then left to the mercy of the tide which washed away the ‘fallen’ after around four and a half hours. Speaking of the idea behind the project Wardley said: ‘The Fallen is a sobering reminder of what happens when peace is not present.  ‘The idea is to create a visual representation of what is otherwise unimaginable, the thousands of human lives lost during the hours of the tide during the Second World War Normandy landings." This is from an article by History on Line.

This photo is from google image for educational purposes only

When this installation of stencil art was imagined it was known that the tide would come in within about 4 hours and wash away some of the images of the fallen soldiers, but it was a symbolic message of loss as well that was envisioned by the artists.