The Family III, 2008

       This work is called The Family III, and was made in 2008. In this work 7 young Laosian girls are dressed in camoflauge army gear and holding large war looking guns. They are sleeping with bright blankets that are different shades of pink and also have pink pillows. "They are actually sleeping" (Ebony, 3) because it would have been too hard to get children this young to act as if they were asleep. This work was a part of The Quiet In The Land series in which all the photos were shot in the same setting in or around a house. This particular photo was shot through a whole in the roof of the house. (Ebony, 3)

      Marina is discussing children of warfare in this picture and how it is real and not a joke at all. Several thousand children are forced into army warfare each year and they have no choice. Marina shows real situations in this series and how it is no game for them but instead a reality. She responds to this in ways that other artists have not. By using the pink blanket she creates a sense of innocence, but the guns contrast with that in the fact that they are dangerous and should not be used by children. This could compare to the fact the foreign armies use these children to seem innocent although with weapons they are indeed dangerous.

      This work reminds me of the pictures you see on the news and in the media of soldiers holding small children in the Middle East while they cry and comforting them. It reminds me of how real this situation happens to be and how you could never really understand the heart break it causes unless you yourself were in that situation. Some of these children are too young to understand and others only do it in fear of what would happen if they did not. It truly is a devastating situation and I think Marina represents that well.

Image: "The Family III." ArtNet. Web. 23 Nov 2009. .

Ebony, David. "Marina Abramovic: An Interview." Art In America Magazine 5 May 2009: 1-4. Web. 18 Nov 2009. .