Dave Cole

This work layers miniature toy soldiers and red, white, and blue acrylic paint to create an American flag. Intended to be disposable, the plastic toy soldiers were created for children’s short-term enjoyment, however here they have been repurposed into a three-dimensional collage that will be useful far longer in the museum’s collection. When caring for art made of plastic, both the physical and chemical compositions of the material must be considered.

Artist Dave Cole made this work the year after 9/11, after he volunteered at Ground Zero.

–Ingrid Neuman, senior conservator

In this piece, hundreds of green toy soldiers have been melted and painted in red, white, and blue acrylic. They homogenize so completely as to become the flag itself. After volunteering at Ground Zero, where the World Trade Center towers collapsed on 9/11, Providence sculptor Dave Cole began to create flag sculptures composed of plastic toy soldiers. Soldiers are equated with patriotism, and here the blended figurines recall ideas of collectivity prominent in nationalist rhetoric. The presence of “play” guns suggests the ongoing, devastating impact of American counterterrorism initiatives.