US artist Sterling Ruby has revealed a special piece that questions ideas of American patriotism and symbolism while imploring people to vote out the current Trump administration. Titled Veil Flag, the design is a large fabric rendered in a mineral wash denim that resembles the US flag, with a blue rectangle patch in the top left corner.

Presented as a video, it opens with a figure crouching outside, shrouded in the work. “Overlaid with two voices reading a sober passage, he rises to stand in slow motion, extending his arms to reveal the sheath as the Veil Flag.”

VEIL FLAG from Sterling Ruby Studio on Vimeo.

“This project is a meditation on the American flag; how a patriotic icon can be transformed beyond a public symbol,” says Ruby. “What happens when the iconographic is destabilized, when that which is upright is displaced onto the body and rendered abstract?

Given the current political climate in the United States, I wanted to explore the concept of the flag as a signifier in flux and how our relationship to it may change when it is activated as a veil. The mantra-like narration emphasizes the state of mourning I see our country in and the importance of voting out the leaderless leadership of the Trump administration.”

Designed to be hung on a wall or as a garment that can be worn over the shoulder, Veil Flag will be available to purchase online through Ruby’s S.R. Studio LA. CA design house in a limited quantity of 50 editions. Priced at $650 each, proceeds of this sale will go towards the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Pre-order opens on 29th September.

Revisit our coverage of S.R. Studio LA. CA SS21 here.