Smothering Dreams is a tough, scathing condemnation of war and our country's fascination with violence. Reeves draws on his own experience as a U.S. Marine in Vietnam in the 1960s, juxtaposing actual combat footage, staged war games, and child’s war play to make his message horrifyingly clear. This work is dedicated to the men of the 3rd Platoon Company A 1st Amtrac Battalion and the North Vietnamese soldiers who died on January 20, 1969 along the Cua Viet River.
Dan Reeves has worked in sculpture, film, video, and installation since 1970. His videos focus on personal, political, and spiritual themes, from socially condoned violence to the divine nature of existence. Since 1982 Reeves's work has concentrated on developing a video poetics and exploring personal transformation and responsibility. Reeves’s Buddhist convictions shape not only his content, but direct his commitment to “revitalizing the sacred in art"—making work of universal significance and understanding of the human condition. A remarkable combination of traditional documentary and personnal narrative, his autobiographical tape Smothering Dreams deals with the myths and realities of war through his experience in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive.