Lifes, Cameras, Actions (WAR) Question # 14
The Henry was showing an excert from the documentary Iraq In Fragments durring my field study.
This documentary was conceptualy connected to the Walid Raad exhibit, in that it deals with the affect of war on the inocent lives that it entraps and oppresses. It follows the a life of a family in the suburbs of Bahgdad. We are witness to the problems that arise when a countries infrastructure is demolished and people end up fendig for themselfs. From growing their own food to finding water, you are faced with a reality that has not been experinced in the U.S. since maby the Civil War, if then. Not only does this family have to find the everyday necesities but one of the young boys, Suri has Aids (he got aids from a plasma transfussion) as well as a number of other symtoms that are slowly taking his life. With Iraq in the middle of a war (turning into a civil war) it is impossible to get Suri the medications he needs to live a somewhat normal life. One of the most powerful quates of the film was " There is terrorism on one hand and the other hand is American troops, and everywhere inbetween is death.".
The video screen was located in a tiny room that was off set from the rest of the exhibits, so not many people could find it. The ones who did find it ( while I was watching) didn't stop to watch, and if they did, it was not from the begining or they left in the middle. This was tough to see knowing that this is an ongoing war, but peope here in the U.S. are so comfortable in our bubles that we cant even spend ten minutes to see what we dont in the news or through other media. How do we live with ourselves when all this is going on in our name. This documentary sparks the need for change in the way we "control" the world aroud us, if nothing happens we are going to continue creating enemies instead of creating allies and it will be the downfall of everything we know.