Barbara Kruger's images tie together discourses that (seemingly) have absolutely nothing to do with each other. Instances of elation are far from trenches and bombs, and the only scientific thing about manias would be the study of them. But by connecting these opposite ideas we are forced to look at the possible similarities between them, and also the differences that set them so far apart and what they might possibly mean. The muscular arm carrying the torch is a masculine symbol of strength and victory, but it is placed on top of a feminine heart. Men and women both experience joy and are both affected by war, so why these distinct gender assignments? Maybe women are more attuned to their emotions and will truly appreciate a moment of joy more than a man? But I have too many male friends that I share moments of elation with to believe that. And while the military may be a male-dominated world, women all over are concise and precise and would run their lives with military precision if it were possible.
Kruger forces the viewers of her work to examine the genders we give certain phenomena and look at why we think they are this or that, and what difference it really makes that science is considered masculine, that mania is considered feminine, and what it means when we read a statement like "your manias become science" on top of a smoking volcano.
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