September 5, 2014

For the Common Good? Artistic Practices and Civil Society in Tunisia

anthonydowney 2014, Articles, Chapters, Essays

5 September 2014

In 2010, the Iraqi artist Wafaa Bilal had a camera surgically inserted into the back of his head. The process involved implanting a titanium plate onto which a camera was mounted and, from the outset, his body rebelled against this foreign object by cutting of blood supply to the area. Through his own unwavering commitment, Bilal persisted with the project and for one year used the embedded camera to record one image per minute of his daily life. The results, covering a period dating from December 14, 2010, to December 18, 2011, or 369 days in total, were streamed live to a global audience via a dedicated website.¹ Presenting acute angles and unexpectedly vertiginous views, the images look arbitrary, distant, lopsided and yet disconcertingly intimate.

Read the full introduction and essay.

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ISBN 9781784530358

August 20, 2014

The Legacy of the War on Terror | Tate Etc. Summer 2015

anthonydowney 2015, Articles, Essays

20 August 2015

For centuries artists have both responded to and reflected on political actions and events that shape society. Now they have risen to the challenge of questioning the moral ambiguity and culpability of governments waging the war on terror, whose methods may, according to this writer, have done more to weaken democracy than any terrorist.