Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad 1798-2006 (2009)
Map, polycarbonate, bullets. Courtesy: the artist. Production: LABoral. Acknowledgements: Sociedad Gijonesa de Tiro Olímpico.
Photo: Marcos Morilla
This project maps the use of US armed forces by means of bullets, which a marksman shot at the location where each incursion has occurred since 1798 into a polycarbonate sheet with an outline map of the world. According to a Congressional Research Service report, titled “Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2006,” there have been approximately 330 instances “in which the United States has used its armed forces abroad in situations of military conflict or potential conflict or for other than normal peacetime purposes”. It is also a map of the expanding sphere of influence of the United States, as its military reach matches its economic scope of activities.
