Wafaa Bilal's works - Virtual vs the Real - Essay Example

WAFAA BILAL Outline Wafaa Bilal I. Introduction a. Career b. and place of birth II. Academic Background a. Childhood aspirations b. Current achievements III. Artistic Works a. Inspiration b. Previous works c. Recent artistic works 1. Domestic tension 2. The 3rd I Project 3. Virtual Jihadi IV. Conclusion a. Other achievements 1. Television appearances 2. Public collections 3. Reviews Wafaa Bilal Wafaa Bilal is an artist and an assistant professor at New York University specifically at the Tisch School of the Arts. Before joining Tisch, he was a professor in Chicago at the School of the Arts Institute. He was born on June 10, 1966 in Iraqi. However, he is an Iraqi-American who has spent a better part of his life in America (Tisch, n.d). His immediate family and most of his extended family are from Iraq in a place called Najaf. When Bilal was a young boy, he wanted to become an artist. He, however, did not get the opportunity of studying art because his family did not approve of it. He, therefore, decided to study geography although he did not give up on his art dream. As he studied geography, he was also working on art and sharpening his skills in artistic works. The life of Saddam Hussein motivated Bilal to venture into art that mainly focused on criticizing Saddam’s doctrines and ideologies. This kind of radical art was not received well by the authorities. Within a short time, he was arrested for dissidence. Extreme groups noticed the way he approached political issues with courage. It was from then that they approached him and asked him to participate as a volunteer in the invasion of Kuwait. Due to his love of peace and devotion towards maintaining political stability, Bilal refused to work as a volunteer and engage in such radical activities. The situation prompted him to organize opposition groups that would stop the invasion of Kuwait. Despite his courage and effort, things did not turn out as he had anticipated mainly because his effort was not bearing fruit. With time, he realized that his life was at stake and, therefore, decided to flee to Saudi Arabia as a refugee in 1991. He sought refuge at a refugee camp where he lived for two years. In the meantime, he continued to teach children about art and participate in other community peace initiatives. It is in 1992 that he decided to come to the United States and embark on a journey of studying art. He found a place to settle in Albuquerque and joined the University of New Mexico. In 1999, he completed his studies and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. After his undergraduate Bilal had developed an interest in moving to Chicago because he felt, it was the best place for him to develop and practice his art skills. When he reached Chicago, he changed his mind and decided to enroll for a master’s degree in fine arts. He chose the School of the Art Institute of Chicago to further his studies. It is in 2003 that he successfully graduated and became an assistant professor in 2004. Most of Bilal’s students describe him as a person who is committed to his work and who exhibits great passion for art. Besides art, he has had the opportunity of giving talks about the political journey of Saddam Hussein and his regime. His experience with the regime is what landed him an interview with the History Channel. In 2004, Bilal lost his brother in a missile strike in Najaf. Bilal has become popular over the years due to his love and passion for artwork. In 2007, he implemented a one-month projects that were known as the Domestic Tension. This project is what increased his popularity globally. His idea of Domestic Tension was mainly inspired by the death of his brother and his father. Besides his close family, he also lost close relatives. This is what encouraged him to condemn strongly and criticize the Iraqi war. That piece of work was part of his interactive video installation works. During the previous years, most of Bilal’s work was based on the virtual versus the real. This implies that he wanted to make a connection or rather create a relationship between artwork and viewers. With this, he wanted to transform the normal manner in which people view art passively into active participation. According to him this experience would enable people to have a more realistic sense and feel of his work. Effort from this previous work is what enabled him to develop Domestic Tension. With this performance piece, viewers were given the opportunity of using paintball guns to ‘shoot’ Bilal through the Internet from a webcam (Rice, 2012). The shots consisted of yellow paint with a foul smell. Moreover, they were able to contact him using the same procedure. He also used a chat room to communicate with people. To make his efforts a success Bilal had live in a modified gallery for one month. The reason he came up with this initiative is because he wanted to raise awareness about privacy and virtual war. His main target audience was young people who exist in the digital age. He also wanted to educate people about how life is in Iraqi and how people in that country as well as other war-torn countries that face similar challenges cope with war and violence in their daily lives. Bilal explained that his work would motivate people and encourage them to participate in the political dialog using conventional means as a way of resolving conflict rather than war (Gat, 2011). While confined in the gallery space Bilal made sure viewers had 24-hour access to the exhibition via the internet. Many viewers who participated in the activity agreed that indeed it was a physical and inspiring experience. Bilal believes that Domestic Tension helped many people to understand various aspects of war not only in an emotional way but an interactive manner. He chose this method specifically because most people enjoy interactive video games something that would make them interested in his initiative. Bilal’s other work is The 3rd I Project. This one-year project was exhibited in 2010 in Qatar at the Arab Museum of Modern Art. The project involved implanting a titanium plate on his head using the help of a camera which was used to capture random images once every minute. His location was also captured through GPS. The images were directly streamed to the museum (Raza, 2011). Bilal explained that the motive behind this initiative was to take ordinary pictures unknowingly with the aim of moderating privacy concerns. In 2011, he requested for the camera to be removed because it caused physical pain that resulted in great discomfort. Bilal believes he is a political artist who is out to educate the public about oppression and war through his art. In most of his talks, he usually says that the violence he experienced while growing up in Iraq has been his main motivation. He further discloses that his stay in the United States has never been a solution to his problems because here he has also experienced suffering and injustice. The videos and photographs that he produces are an expression of his emotions and inner imaginations. His other work was that of the Night of Bush Capturing also known as Virtual Jihadi. This work was a computer art piece that was a modification of a game known as Quest for Bush. Bilal’s objective was to create awareness about how vulnerable Iraqi citizens are to war and to expose various aspects of racism. In 2008, he was invited to the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to give a presentation of this work. He, however, was not allowed to give the presentation based on the institution’s criticism of his ideologies. Bilal has done many other works over the years. He has taken part in various radio interviews for example on the WorldStream Radio and American Public Media. He has also made television appearances for instance at the BBC and CNN. He has public collections at The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art and The Milwaukee Art Museum. Bilal has also made several book reviews and online reviews (Bilal, n.d). Not to forget the papers he has published and the documentaries that he has created. Pictures of His Work Image 1: During the domestic tension Image 2: Virtual Jihadi (The game) Image 3: The 3rd I project (Camera behind his head) Source of photos: ArtAsiaPAcific (2015). References ArtAsiaPAcific (2015). Remote Repercussions Wafaa Bilal. Retrieved from http://artasiapacific.com/Magazine/72/RemoteRepercussionsWafaaBilal. Bilal, W. (n.d)Curriculum Vitae. New York. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCQQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwafaabilal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F09%2FWafaa_Bilal_CV_2012-3.pdf. Gat, O. (2011). Virtual Spectacle: A Conversation With Wafaa Bilal. Rhizome. Retrieved from http://rhizome.org/editorial/2011/nov/17/body-present-conversation-wafaa-bilal/. Raza, S. (2011). Performing Histories: Wafaa Bilal in conversation with Sara Raza. Ibraaz. Retrieved from http://www.ibraaz.org/interviews/9. Rice, S. (2012). Domestic Tension: An Interview with Wafaa Bilal by Shalley Rice. Jeu De Paume. Retrieved from http://lemagazine.jeudepaume.org/blogs/shelleyrice/2012/10/01/domestic-tension-an-interview-with-wafaa-bilal-by-shelley-rice/. Tisch. (n.d). Wafaa Bilal. Broadway: Tisch School of the Art. Retrieved from http://www.tisch.nyu.edu/object/BilalW.html. Read More