Eyes Wide Open

The American Friends Service Committee (the Quakers) have been going around the country with a conceptual art piece called "Eyes Wide Open" that is astonishingly powerful. There is a pair of boots for each U.S. soldier who has died in Iraq, tagged with their name and where they come from (alphabetical by state). It sort of has the feel of the AIDS Quilt but thankfully without any "grief counselors" telling you how to deal with it all.

Also stretched along the plaza are shoes of every description representing the Iraqi civilians who have died in our ill-advised adventure. In one area, somebody has tried to create a maze a la Grace Cathedral but it's not very soothing because the weird differences in all the shoes end up being fascinating.

Contrary to what the dumb article in the SF Chronicle stated today, the piece is VERY political, just not in the usual way where you are being browbeaten into what to think or how to react. You can walk among the exhibit, add flowers, pictures, candles, do what you want. Check it out.