● The chronicle continues ●
Making the
Empire
Cross
A series of lenticular images by Priscilla Bracks. A motley cohort of plastic toys in custom costumes plays out scenarios less ridiculous than the reality of the politics they parody, set against illustrated comic backgrounds, the images come to life as the viewer walks by.
● The chronicle, in four parts
Episodes
A loose narrative running 2005–2010, in four episodes plus an epilogue. Each collects a series of large-scale lenticular images.
Episode 1 · 2006
Unleashed!
A long, long time ago, in a land far, far away. A preacher, a hegemonic ruler, and his inappropriate use of nails threaten the tenuous balance of power in a remote outpost of the Empire.
Episode 2 · 2008
Baghdad Barbie in the Cradle of Civilisation
The Empire is being lured into protracted civil wars in each of its newly established territories, whilst small but well publicised victories mask the insurgents' progress.
Episode 3 · 2010
The All-in Brawl
Three long decades since the war began, millions have been slaughtered and few remember why. Feeling the loosening grip of his power, the Emperor hatches a plan.
Epilogue
Children of the Meek
After countless years fighting insurgencies in its remote outposts, the Empire finally crumbled as constant war and a pre-occupation with entertainment created a dangerous distraction from the Earth's collapsing ecosystems.
● Inside the chronicle
A whole media machine
The work doesn't end at the picture frame. The toys have agents, the press has opinions, the gossip pages have their own truth.
Cast
Starring
Meet the players. Ryan Hunter-Davies as GI Joe, Cherry Wang as Baghdad Barbie, Jack Barrow as Jihad Joe, and a particularly lavish George W Bush, in the role of his life.
The press
Gossip
Sex tapes, drive-thru weddings, baby bumps, faux tresses. Every actor in Making the Empire Cross is also a tabloid creation. Thirty fake spreads, frozen in 2008.
Production
Behind the scenes
Costume-making, green-screen days, on-set portraits of plastic actors. The mechanics of a fake film about a real war.
Reading
About
Catalogue essays by Timothy Morrell and David Broker, an artist statement by Priscilla Bracks, and a primer on the lenticular technique that holds the work together.