In response to the deaths of his brother and father, Wafaa Bilal created Domestic Tension in 2007, also known as Shoot an Iraqi. The piece is complex; part performance, part installation and part online game, it challenges viewers to participate in more than one way and brings forward many questions regarding the Iraq War. In his lecture, Bilal discusses the dehumanizing of the US people- that there is a lack of understanding or connection to the destruction occurring in Iraq and as a nation, our role in that destruction and death. He discussed new military strategies in which soldiers are not always aware of the death they cause as in certain cases- they are deploying bombs remotely via computer with a click of a button and are disconnected from the war and conflict they take part in- they are at a safe distance. In this particular example, he describes how disturbing the disconnect from the action being performed which causes mass casualties of Iraqi civilians; the acceptance of doing the job without fully thinking of the consequences is in need of examination. The number of Iraqi civilians is not known and is suspected to be well underrepresented which Bilal also discussed.
The basic premise of the Domestic Tension project is that Bilal spent 30 days living in a gallery space with basic amenities. A paintball gun and cameras were rigged to a website where viewers could not only see Bilal from anywhere online, but also shoot at him with the paintball gun in the gallery from remote locations all over the world. The only relief were some sparse barriers set up but the sound during shooting is relentless. The paintballs used were yellow in color- reflecting the notion of the yellow ribbon signifying supporting the troops.
The process is brutal and Bilal is relentless in his commitment to his work despite technical setbacks and his own misery through the process. The piece is affective and he received attention not only from the art world but his piece was #1 on the social news site digg.com on the 14th day. Bilal's work was largely a success- particularly because he reached such a wide range of people over 30 days. People participating came from 136 countries and made 65,000 shots with the paintball gun.
In creating Domestic Tension Bilal aims to agitate, to ask questions and challenge people- to engage them. He asks such questions as, "what would you feel if you were put in the situation of the Iraqis?" Though his interest is in engaging viewers- he does not want to alienate them or make them uncomfortable but rather humanize the process and make people think. The piece is compelling, painful, powerful- Bilal describes the sacrifices and changes that occurred with him personally in doing this project- both healing as well as inflicting trauma upon himself. He stated the following conflicting concepts: conflict zone versus comfort zone, aesthetic pleasure versus aesthetic pain, virtual platforms versus physical platforms, and autonomy versus democracy; by using his body within the piece, Bilal pushing these concepts to the forefront, not without deeply affecting his own psyche in the process. He stated, "Dynamic work is a platform in which all possible end-states are known." This is an interesting statement in relation to the questions the artist raises and the juxtaposition of the conflicting states he mentions prior.
...And Counting is another of Bilal's projects in which a map of Iraq is tatooed onto his back during a 24 hour performance. There are dots that represent each of the US deaths (5,000) as well as invisible ink dots for each of the Iraqi deaths (100,000). The reasoning for the Iraqi invisible dots are to represent the invisibility of the Iraqi deaths to the American people. Those dots can only be seen with a black light. As the tattoo was created people read off the names of the dead. Bilal asked for one dollar donations to go toward scholarships for the children of the dead. The piece was an interesting interaction between body art, performance and installation. The interaction of the piece and involvement of many people created a powerful and moving artwork. The commitment Bilal shows in using his own body to get his message across and and create his art is incredible. He does this again in 3rdi where he actually has a camera surgically implanted into the back of his head while he carries a laptop wirelessly connected to the internet; a camera records regularly and the images are displayed online. The aim is for objectivity and Bilal does not control when the photos are captured. This kind of storytelling is interesting in that it is personal in that the apparatus to capture the photos and images are attached to Bilal's body and so he is part of them and they are part of him. However, the way in which the photos are captured are devoid of intervention, impersonal, and objective.
Bilal has had a number of successful projects in addition to Domestic Tension, ...And Counting, and 3rdi, but not without controversy and even personal threats. Despite some extremely violent threats against him, Bilal maintains, he would not shy away from a project and he is always willing to take risks as an artist.
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