Richard Hamilton er en af grundlæggerne af den britiske popkunst og dermed en af de første kunstnere, der gjorde brug af masseproducerede billeder fra populærkulturen, herunder film- og reklameverdenen. Gennem en hel uge i løbet af maj-måned 1970 så Richard Hamilton TV og fotograferede alt hvad han så på skærmen, hvilket er udgangspunktet for dette værk. Værket er en fotografisk oversættelse af en tv-transmitteret begivenhed fra Kent State, Ohio, i USA d. 4. maj 1970, der i dag bl.a. kendes som ”Kent State massakren”. Her blev 4 studerende ved Kent State University i Ohio skudt og dræbt af Ohios Nationalgarde, som affyrede 67 skud mod en ubevæbnet flok af unge, fredelige demonstranter, der protesterede mod Vietnam-krigen. Yderligere 9 blev såret, herunder Dean Kahler, som er afbilledet her i Hamiltons værk, indhyllet i farverne fra det amerikanske flag. Den tragiske begivenhed medførte et nationalt oprør og 4 millioner studerende gik i strejke over hele USA. Med sit motiv reflekterer Hamiltons værk over den måde, hvorpå information videreformidles til offentligheden og i en verden, hvor vi hver dag bliver konfronteret og bombarderet med stadig flere billeder og informationer, vi skal forholde os til. Ikke mindst står hans værk som en refleksion over forholdet mellem antivold og vold repræsenteret som henholdsvis aktivist og stat – et forhold der også synes aktuelt i nyere tid.
Richard Hamilton was one of the founders of British Pop Art, making him one of the first artists to utilise mass-produced images from popular culture, including the worlds of film and advertising. For an entire week in May 1970, Richard Hamilton watched TV and photographed everything he saw on the screen. That formed the basis for this work. It is a photographic ‘translation’ of a televised event from Kent State, Ohio in the United States on 4 May 1970. Today it is referred to as the ‘Kent State Massacre’. Four students at Kent State University in Ohio were shot and killed by the Ohio National Guard, who fired 67 shots at an unarmed crowd of young, peaceful demonstrators protesting against the Vietnam War. 9 other students were injured. They included Dean Kahler, depicted here in Hamilton’s work, shrouded in the colours of the American flag. The tragic event caused a national uprising and 4 million students throughout the United States went on strike. The motif in Hamilton’s work looks at the way in which information is imparted to the public, in a world where, day in and day out, we are confronted and bombarded with increasingly more images and information we then have to process. In particular, his work is a reflection on the relationship between anti-violence and violence, as represented by an activist and a state – a relationship that also seems topical today.