Hubbard/ Birchler

Teresa Hubbard was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1965. Alexander Birchler was born in Baden, Switzerland in 1962. Teresa Hubbard and Alexander Birchler live and work in Austin, Texas. Both received MFAs from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, Canada. As life partners and artist-collaborators, Hubbard and Birchler make short films and photographs about the construction of narrative time and space without the context of a traditional story line. Their open-ended, enigmatic narratives elicit multiple readings. They began their collaboration in the mid-1990s, making sculpture, installation, photography, and performance-based work. In an early photographic series, they created filmstill-like images of people interacting with objects and architecture in ways that questioned simplistic narrative resolution. Their interest in the construction and negotiation of space, architecture, and the function of objects in three dimensions still plays a primary role in their work.
(excerpt from PBS.org/art21)

Hubbard & Birchler's Web Site

For Johnny (2004), Hubbard and Birchler work with a Texas high school marching band. The song, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," is attributed to Patrick S. Gilmore, a musician and soldier who fought for the Union Army during the American Civil War. On the filmmakers' website, they describe the songs as a celebration of events that have not happened yet, namely "military triumph and the return home of a soldier named Johnny."

In the video, an awkward silence is created when the trumpeter begins to play and nobody joins in. At first, it seems that the other band members might play (they fiddle with their instruments suggesting their own struggles), but as soon the trumpeter commits, they relax, ensuring a solo performance. The "palpable sense of tension" is amplified by the uncertainty of the trumpeter, whose own hesitation is conveyed by the fact that it takes him a little while to get going; even he seems to be questions whether or not this song is appropriate. The camera, editing, and sound production only enhance these feelings: the camera jumps from close-ups of the player's eyes and faces to close-ups of their instruments laying restlessly in their hands, while at times we only hear crickets chirping in the background.

When viewed as an anti-war piece, it's important to take into account what was happening in 2004. A brief survey reveals that the U.S. had just ended the liberation part of the Iraq War (with Bush's infamous "Mission Accomplished" address) and the U.S. was now beginning its occupation of Iraq. The Abu Ghraib scandal also broke this year- marking a low point, if not the lowest, in U.S. history. In 2004, more and more Americans began to question U.S. involvement in Iraq and began to wonder how long were we actually going to have to stay.

With this in mind, one should consider the questions below when exploring this work in the context of political art or art with a political statement...

• How has the meaning and value of this work changed 4 years later when the U.S. military is still committed in Iraq and public opinion now sees these efforts as a failure? Do you think this piece has a stronger anti-war message today than it did in 2004?
  
• Is this a critique solely on the Iraq war or are there larger social issues about the fragmentation or venerability of American society? Does the fact that these artist were born outside of the U.S. and did not permanently move here until 2000 (although they both consider themselves to be Americans) change the way you interpret the message or meaning of this work?