P R O J E C T S
T E A R S O F D E S P A I R : A Y E A R O F T E R R O R
This is a project that recorded the major terrorist incidents around the world from 12 November, 2015 to 12 November, 2016. During that time, and still to this day, every week multiple terrorist attacks occur killing and maiming innocent children, women and men. We hear of the incidents and respond in horror, especially when they take place in a well-known place in the West, like Nice or Orlando. But each day there are even more attacks that are barely covered in Western news.
The project began after the attacks in Paris, November 2015, including at the celebrated Bataclan Concert Hall. Having personal attachments to that city, these events were especially horrifying to me. We in the West were sickened by the attack, and stood in solidarity with the French nation. However, just the day before, November 12, a similar attack occurred in Beirut with little Western media coverage, which was all the more upsetting. Every day there are attacks around the world which are just as atrocious, just as horrifying. We in the West hardly notice. Are their lives not just as important?
This is a project that recorded the major terrorist incidents around the world from 12 November, 2015 to 12 November, 2016. During that time, and still to this day, every week multiple terrorist attacks occur killing and maiming innocent children, women and men. We hear of the incidents and respond in horror, especially when they take place in a well-known place in the West, like Nice or Orlando. But each day there are even more attacks that are barely covered in Western news.
The project began after the attacks in Paris, November 2015, including at the celebrated Bataclan Concert Hall. Having personal attachments to that city, these events were especially horrifying to me. We in the West were sickened by the attack, and stood in solidarity with the French nation. However, just the day before, November 12, a similar attack occurred in Beirut with little Western media coverage, which was all the more upsetting. Every day there are attacks around the world which are just as atrocious, just as horrifying. We in the West hardly notice. Are their lives not just as important?
For one year I created a small work of art representing for every terrorist attack, many in so-called Third World countries; and often unnoticed in the West. Each work, a small panel measuring 17.8 x 11.8cm (7 x 4.25"), depicting a wall of tears. After one year, there were 357 panels--nearly one per day. As with each attack, each panel is unique. They can be seen as 357 separate works of art, or as one monumental work, measuring 432 x 180 cm (170 x 85"). Or displayed side-by-side chronologically, the work stretches 4284 cm, over 140 feet.
Tears of Despair acknowledges every major terrorist attack: an attack that has twenty or more casualties. Innocents are killed for being in the wrong place, for being of a different religion or culture, for being female. Hatred, fear, and intolerance propel these attacks and accomplish no good. The project continued for one full year—that is all I could bear—to show the shocking extent of the atrocities. The project could have covered the previous year, or the following one; the numbers do not change much. What is important to take away is that terrorist attacks do not stop; the innocent around the world continue to be murdered. This visual record of one year brings awareness to these unending tragedies. Is there a solution to stop terrorism? Is there a means to greater understanding about the roots of these acts? Surely there is.
Tears of Despair acknowledges every major terrorist attack: an attack that has twenty or more casualties. Innocents are killed for being in the wrong place, for being of a different religion or culture, for being female. Hatred, fear, and intolerance propel these attacks and accomplish no good. The project continued for one full year—that is all I could bear—to show the shocking extent of the atrocities. The project could have covered the previous year, or the following one; the numbers do not change much. What is important to take away is that terrorist attacks do not stop; the innocent around the world continue to be murdered. This visual record of one year brings awareness to these unending tragedies. Is there a solution to stop terrorism? Is there a means to greater understanding about the roots of these acts? Surely there is.
B I T T E R F R U I T S
I began drawing Bitter Fruits in late 2005, but began thinking about this piece from the day that the United States government, under the leadership of George W. Bush, illegally invaded Iraq in 2003; obligating thousands of American soldiers to risk, often sacrifice their lives.
At first I planned to create a small mold and cast a figure for every American killed. But then, each would be identical. Each victim had to be individually rendered. A drawing developed, using a roll of Rives paper 52” wide. Rows and rows of similar figures, but no two identical. Row after row, column after column. I used a Chinese scroll format, that unrolls to show the passage of time. There was one thousand dead as of September 2004, three thousand as of January 2007. By the time Barak Obama ended the United States participation in the war 4492 Americans had died. The scroll was over 24 feet long.
I began drawing Bitter Fruits in late 2005, but began thinking about this piece from the day that the United States government, under the leadership of George W. Bush, illegally invaded Iraq in 2003; obligating thousands of American soldiers to risk, often sacrifice their lives.
At first I planned to create a small mold and cast a figure for every American killed. But then, each would be identical. Each victim had to be individually rendered. A drawing developed, using a roll of Rives paper 52” wide. Rows and rows of similar figures, but no two identical. Row after row, column after column. I used a Chinese scroll format, that unrolls to show the passage of time. There was one thousand dead as of September 2004, three thousand as of January 2007. By the time Barak Obama ended the United States participation in the war 4492 Americans had died. The scroll was over 24 feet long.
I started this drawing because I had to. Reading the list of war casualties each day in the Times did not adequately illuminate the tragedy. I also chose to make a short film about the drawing because no one photograph adequately captures the drawing. The film shows the quality of time passing. This is a collaborative project with Hui Cox, composer, and Karim Lopez filmmaker and editor.