benjamin june
click on the image to the left, or the words below to see my new project.
Iraq Suicide Attack Pillow Project:
1424 pillows made so far. (11/09/2008)
yes, that means there've been 1424 attacks, and they keep happening...
Infoporn Opening Reception:
Friday, November 14, 2008 8pm
Co-Prosperity Sphere ( in Bridgeport)
3219 South Morgan St.
My project will be installed in the huge front window of the gallery.
Show runs through December 5th.
FLATFILE Galleries, chicago
iraq suicide attack pillow project to be featured in a group show called INFOPORN, part of SELECT MEDIA FESTIVAL!
My statement about the project:
I am making a pillow for every suicide attack in Iraq since the U.S. invasion on March 20, 2003.
Most of us have become disconnected and disenchanted with the war, while hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed and millions displaced. The U.S. has failed to secure Iraq in this war for oil, and it continues with no end in sight. The suicide attacks are but a small aspect of the war, but for me they are the most horrifying because of how personal, psychological and deadly they are. There was never a suicide attack in the country before the U.S. invasion, and to date there have been more than 1,400 separate attacks that have left more than 15,000 people dead. Suicide terrorism in Iraq has become a phenomenon and there have been more attacks there in the last five years, than in all other world conflicts combined.
There is an obvious contradiction between the softness of the pillows and the brutality of the attacks. I choose to make small pillows, because they are inherently intimate objects, to explore the physical intimacy of the suicide bombers with the people they kill. I’m also interested in the contradiction of chaos and destruction versus fragility and comfort. The attacks and the war are more horrific than we can imagine, and to explore this I needed to make something that is tangible and approachable. The pillows are accessible because they create a safer environment to process this brutality.
I feel that these memorial pillows are not for the victims or for the attackers; they are for the whole, tragic situation. I am attempting to raise awareness and open a dialogue about the number of deaths from these attacks that I believe our government and military are partially responsible for.
i love you.
all content on this website copyright 2008 benjamin june.
