Tunnel Rat

Alma Wolf
Rubber Stamp on Drawing Paper
April 2017

Depicted in my art piece are the barely-outlined features of a man as he emerges from a tunnel.
Underneath is a haiku poem that reads, Viet Cong tunnels/terrible things he has seen/Not
Worth a Rats Ass.

This is an American soldier from the Vietnam War, materializing from one of the thousands of
tunnels dug by the Viet Cong. The Viet Cong were North Vietnamese guerrilla fighters, and they
utilized thousands of miles of tunnels to transport troops, store supplies, and hide. Many of the
Viet Cong and citizens of South Vietnam lived in the tunnels for extended periods of time
because of the frequent U.S. airstrikes.

The U.S. soldiers that explored these tunnels were called tunnel rats, and they had to have an
unusual sense of curiosity and caution. Their unofficial motto was Not Worth a Rats Ass.
There were unimaginable dangers in the pitch-black tunnels, including booby traps with punji
sticks, vipers, scorpions, and Viet Cong soldiers lying in wait. My art piece was inspired by the
horrible things that a tunnel rat might have encountered underground. Specifically, I wanted to
capture the soldiers expression as he emerges. He has a dark, clouded appearance that seems
to convey the terrible things he has seen.

My print is based on an anonymous photograph. I block printed the image in black and white,
which helps the viewer understand the severity of the rats emotions. I wanted my art to
convey the ingenuity of the tunnels used in Vietnam, and the idea that innovation (digging
thousands of miles of tunnels) comes from desperation (inferior military technology). I used
GIMP to increase the contrast, then I carved the image in a block of rubber and stamped it onto
drawing paper. Before this project, I had not made a stamp by carving rubber, so I learned
about that process. However, my greatest take away was practicing wabi sabi, the idea that
things are not perfect, yet we must embrace that.