Michael Beam
Well Before….the Trusty S.C.O.R.E.* Crows
2011

Name: Well Before….the Trusty S.C.O.R.E.* Crows
Brand: Michael Beam
Price: 750 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Peenemunde 1943—During World War II, German rocketeers developed Vergeltungswaffen or "V" weapons at the German rocket facility Peenemunde, built in 1937. The first civilian employee at this facility was Wernher von Braun. Confirmation of rockets at Peenemunde came in 1943 by reconnaissance flights (code named Bodyline) that revealed vehicles carrying long cylindrical objects not be readily identified. The decision was made that Peenemunde was to be bombed and Operation Crossbow was employed, with the objective of killing personnel involved in the V-weapons programs. There were three targets—the scientists residences, the rocket factory and the launch station. Operation Aphrodite—Operation Aphrodite used unmanned, explosive–laden Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator bombers that were deliberately crashed into their targets under radio control. A crew would take-off and fly to 20,000 feet before activating the remote control system, arming the detonators and parachuting from the aircraft. Missions were drawn up in July 1944 and Joseph Kennedy, Jr. and John Wilford Willy volunteered for the flight crew. They flew a BQ-8 "robot" aircraft for the U.S. Navy's first Aphrodite mission loaded with 21,000 lbs. of Torpex explosives to be used against Peenemunde facilities. Following behind them, to film the mission, was Colonel Elliott Roosevelt, son of the 32nd U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Before the crew bailed out; the Torpex detonated prematurely and destroyed the Liberator, vaporizing Kennedy and Willy. So, history, as I perceive it, was altered with an ironic twist of fate. Joe Kennedy Jr.’s mission was to destroy Peenemunde’s rocket program and senior scientists, including Wernher von Braun. If he had succeeded in killing von Braun and destroying the facilities, he would have returned to the U.S. and most likely would have become president of the United States. And, perhaps, the U.S. space program would not have succeeded in beating the Russians to the Moon. Instead, he was killed and John F. Kennedy went on to become the 35th President. He would eventually bring the Peenemunde scientists, including von Braun, (who’s destruction was older brother Joe’s mission) and rocket technology back to the United States, in Operation Paperclip, to develop and implement the American space program. This program would eventually evelove into the NASA of the 1960s. So in fact, John F. Kennedy “employed” and sponsored the work of those who were, inadvertently, responsible for the death of his older brother Joe Kennedy Jr. SCORE (Society for the Correction of Russian Excesses) Michael Beam holds a Master of Fine Arts from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and a Bachelors of Fine Arts from California University of Pennsylvania. Beam has over twenty years experience as a museum professional, highlights of his curatorial expertise include exhibitions created in association with Sonnabend Gallery, New York; Paul and Andy: The Early Years and Uncle Andy’s Carousel Horses with the Warhola Family, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is distinguished for curating a tremendous number of exhibitions including In the Dark, Show Us Yours: Artists Interpret Underwear which garnered international television and radio attention from WPZA, Boston; The Point 105.7, St. Louis; TALK 640, Toronto, Canada; Los Angeles Times and SAfm 104-107 Auckland Park, in South Africa. He received the 1996 Bychowski Meritus Award for service to the University Student Programming Council, representing Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, at the National Association of Campus Activities Conference in Nashville, TN. Additionally, he was chosen to represent the Masters Program and Advanced Graduate Studies at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in A Place of People with Purpose Publication. Beam, perhaps best known for his traveling exhibitions Jean-Michel Basquiat: An Intimate Portrait, photographs which examine the critical pre-fame years of Basquiat, winner of a Silver Addy Award, and Exquisite Corpse: Contemporary Figurative Flameworkers Play a Surrealist Game, consisting of an international grouping of glass artists’ reinterpreting the 1920’s Dadaist game Exquisite Corpse

Creator:

Michael Beam (American)

Creation Year:

2011

Dimensions:

Height: 29 in (73.66 cm)Width: 21 in (53.34 cm)

Medium:

Canvas,Found Objects,Mixed Media,Oil

Movement & Style:

Conceptual

Period:

21st Century