The scimitar is a weapon used to slash, cut, and separate. In this project the scimitar is conscripted as a tool to lay open two parallel and sometimes conflicting propositions: the inclination to create, and perhaps depend on, narrative in order to understand events; and our tendency to divide the narratives that are before us into parts in order to more easily understand the whole. The parts, or segments, on which we place our attention may also be the source of individual narratives which have no relationship to the original; and our resynthesis of these unique segments may lead us to invent accounts again unlike the initially perceived narrative. One other interesting aspect of this process is the method of framing that we use. That is, where and how do we choose to locate the boundaries which surround the segment we select?
This process of relating to parts in order to piece together a whole is I think, the method that we use to perceive and understand, or more fully comprehend, complex issues. But it can also be misleading if the larger issue is lost while reading the segments. At the same time misinterpretation, or distraction, can also lead to unexpected areas of curiosity or interest.
The historical works that are incorporated within the Scimitar pieces are there to remind us that the issues we deal with, social as well as perceptual, aren’t necessarily new but are generally inherited and continuing.
July 1999
