I ordered this custom printed blanket with on the morning that the UK based Independent newspaper printed a largely black front page image following the humanitarian aid worker Allan Henning’s public execution by the self-proclaimed Islamic State. The striking white typeface reads:
“ON FRIDAY A DECENT AND CARING HUMAN BEING WAS MURDERED IN COLD BLOOD. OUR THOUGHTS ARE WITH HIS FAMILY. HE WAS KILLED ON CAMERA, FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF PROPAGANDA. HERE IS THE NEWS, NOT THE PROPAGANDA.”
The gesture is austere and poignant, but negates itself not only through the cultural assemblage of the page, but through the ideological structures, authorities, and politics that surround it. I took this blanket to a mountain along the Appalachian Trail in New Jersey for two days as an attempt at a sincere investigation into the nuances of this collage - to live with the image (and the ideas) for a little while.
Custom printed fleece blanket with the front page of the Independent newspaper from October 5th