Atlantic Wall Image Series
“The Atlantic Wall” is the name given to the German fortifications along the Atlantic coast of France ,
concrete bunkers and defensive positions constructed during World War II, many of which stand today
in testimony to the enormous bloodshed, carnage, human suffering and ultimate sacrifice that took
place on the beaches below and sand dunes leading to higher ground on the June 6, 1944 “D-Day, Allied
Forces Invasion at Normandy France.”
A picture tells a thousand words.
If taken by a camera an image relates to what the observer sees and thinks at that moment in time.
When seen by an observer it is interpreted again in their own mind to seek relevance and meaning to
the image.
What if the image is not interpretative but derived from the essential chemistry of the ground on which
the structure stands or from the extracted chemistry of the structure itself? — From that material which
bore witness to the history and events that unfolded at that very place from which the sample material
was extracted?
What story do these images tell, what influence does the molecular chemistry from these materials
impose on the formation of these microscopic crystals and what do they reveal?
It is irrelevant to understand why—but merely to observe, that the images created from the chemistry
extracted from the concrete of these fortifications are some of the most violent microscopic crystal
images I have ever seen, as is similarly, the imagery created from the sand of Utah Beach, site of
American amphibious troop landings at Normandy.
Manifestation of a “Quantum Entanglement,” an imprint of history or coincidence? — Matters little, the
images are what they are.
This image, divided horizontally, displays the chaos and rubble of war in the bottom half, indeed a hint
of a soldiers helmet and up stretched arm and in the top half, symbolically an “Angle of Peace” looking
upward to a figure of “Wisdom and Judgment?”
In eighteen years of imaging crystal structures, the “Heritage Art” series made from the crystallization of
chemical extracts from the soil, wooden beams, sand and rubble from historic sites, is eerily
representative and reflective of the history of these places.
I leave interpretation of images to each observer in the hope that they inspire and ignite imaginative
introspection into an appreciation of history, the human toll and sacrifices made that have evolved
civilization agonizingly and slowly forward, hopefully in increments improving the human condition.
Observe and allow your mind to take a journey of imagination and introspection.
©2020THS
2020
