Made in an edition of 20 in 1998 this small size work was intended to be sent to World Political Leaders and positioned on their desks as an aide memoire.
There are a number of works in this series and in part are intended to enable the viewer, 'to observe and reflect on the process of change itself', and, 'Crossing thresholds of meaning at a glance creates mystery,' as well as bringing self-questioning and self-examination to the fore.
The internationally known artist, Barry Martin, (the artist in residence at Chiswick House), has for his millennium statement produced an artwork that is being sent to over twenty Presidents and Heads of Government around the world. These include Tony Blair, President Clinton, President Yeltsin, President B.J. Habibie, John Howard, Gerhard Schroeder, President Jiang Zemin, Fidel Castro, Colonel Gaddafi, Nelson Mandela, Massimo D'Alema, King Abdullah, Emile Lahoud, Jenny Shipley, Costas Simitis, Jean Chretien, Keizo Obuchi, Pope John Paul II, Mahathir Mohammad, etc.
The artwork titled 'War' has been made as a limited edition in stainless steel and signed by the artist. The work reflects the word 'War' as the French word 'Mal'. The artist uses reflection in many of his works but was astonished to discover this profound polarity of meaning.
Mr Martin hopes the work will prick the conscience of world leaders and act as a daily reminder of the 'Bad' in 'War'. He hopes the work will find a place on their desktops. He suggests that the act of reflection perceived in the work is equivalent to human contemplation and hopefully will be a philosophic and moral reminder to them. The artist recently had a successful one-person exhibition of similar works at the 'Mind Sports Olympiad' held in August at Olympia, London. This was titled 'Look-Reflections on Structure and Meaning'.