Angels Armed With Art Fight For Peace

Sculptress Lin Evola-Smidt collects shells, remains of fire-arms and bombs which she thaws and turns into sculptures – angels of peace.

American sculptress Lin Marie Evola-Smidt engaged her grey cells in the 90s. She was living in Los Angeles with her 8-year-old son at the time and the worrying child death rate on the streets of her city made her do something, as a conscientious citizen and a mother. Thus, Lin had the idea to turn collected weapons into something that would symbolise peace.

Throughout the years, she has gained reliable friends like the federal L.A. sheriff and the New York Police Department which supply her with confiscated fire-arms, but she did not stop at that. She travelled across the world in her art-peace campaign, and obtained bombs from Belfast, semiautomatic guns from Jerusalem and mines from Iraq. She also received honours and supporters in high political circles.

Once she gets her hands on a weapon, Evola sends it off to be thawed and then parts of statues are made after her moulds. Welders then put the parts together. She exhibited her work throughout the world, while cities like New York, Los Angeles, Johannesburg and Sarajevo have ordered 10-metre sculptures from her, which represent angels of peace.

Evola says she will need 20 million dollars to make the first gigantic angel and the Art of Peace foundation will help her, which has recently raised 75,000 dollars at UN headquarters on September 11. The Peace Trust is planning to start an international fund-raiser for the help of the New York angel.

Angels` ancestors are snakes – protectors

Thawing weapons and turning them into something quite the opposite from their initial use has been familiar since ancient times. In 479 B.C., the Greeks have celebrated the withdrawal of the Persians by collecting their weapons from the battle fields, melted them and made an 8-metre statue from the metal mixture. This pole was created from three intertwined snakes.

Bells silent, cannons storm

If this process was unilateral in turning evil into something good, it would have been a much more elevated experience for us humans.

However, history is full of opposite examples. When ever horns of war were heard, bells were taken off from towers and bronze monuments were “mobilised” from the streets for armament. One famous example is the bronze panelling from the Pantheon which was taken down in the 17 th century. Pantheon, the most preserved construction from ancient Rome, was initially dedicated to all the gods. However, in the 7 th century, the Christian god has pushed out the “round sanctuaries” and independently sat on the throne. From that point, the Pantheon was a church,

Church head, pope Urban VIII was unfortunate enough for the most part of his term to coincide with the 30-year-war (1618-1648). Otherwise, a great science and art patron, he ordered all the bronze to be taken down the Pantheon, which was used to create 80 cannons that defended the Sant`Angelo castle. Bronze elements from the Pantheon were later renewed, but never quite had the same shine.

Bells from Croatian churches did not do better either. Not long after the start of World War I, the Austo-Hungarian Empire found itself in a difficult position and tried to pull through by requisitioning strategic materials. Just like in World War I, Croatian bells were silent in World War II and the cannons stormed. Today, the bells are returned to church towers, little by little..

Melting point for bronze is 950 degrees Celsius. This is the social temperature on the line between good and evil, which is suitable for creating elevated art pieces into weapons and vice-versa. Is bronze good or bad by nature? An excessive question? Well then, is man good or bad by nature? Can man change?