ART | "The Box" 

In his collection of writings, "The Things They Carried," Vietnam veteran and author Tim O'Brien dismisses the notion that going to war is heroic. "If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste," he writes, "then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no virtue. As a first rule of thumb, therefore, you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil."

Outside the Box Gallery (1000 Turk Hill Road, Building #9, Fairport) is currently hosting "The Box," an exhibit of artwork focusing on the horrors of war and promoting messages of peace. The show title comes from an anti-war poem of the same name spoken on the 1971 John Denver album, "Poems, Prayers & Promises."

An opening reception will be held Thursday, November 13, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The exhibit continues through November 28. Since Uncle Sam plays his hired mercenaries with a bait and switch routine regarding promised benefits, the average citizen has to clean up the warmongers' messes. A portion of the proceeds from art sales during November will be donated to the Wounded Warrior Project. For more information, call 645-2485 or email [email protected].