Your School. Your Paper. Since 1936.

The Suffolk Journal

Your School. Your Paper. Since 1936.

The Suffolk Journal

Your School. Your Paper. Since 1936.

The Suffolk Journal

ICA shows a ‘Theater of War’

Article By: Alexander Sessa

The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA)  is currently displaying an exhibit entitled …Out of Here: The Veterans Project, by Krzysztof Wodiczko, through which spectators experience the horrors of war and reach a better understanding of what troops in Iraq and Afghanistan endure first hand. Wodiczko is quoted in the description saying, “I believe that if there is any truth, it lies in realizing the impossibility of gaining full access to the truth of such an experience.”

Viewers of …Out of Here: The Veterans Project walk into a large, dark room seeing only projections of windows looking out at calm skies. Voices can be heard of people engaging in regular conversation when the sound of bombs suddenly disrupts the peace and windows fill with smoke and debris.  Every few minutes, the silhouette of a helicopter will be projected to further illusion of war.  The spectators will then notice the conversation turn into gruesome screaming giving the effect that the turmoil is happening right at their feet.  Through these techniques, Wodiczko has created an emotional scene in which people are able to put themselves into the shoes of soldiers and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The darkness of the room creates a psychological scenario that is intended to give the feeling of being surrounded by battle.

The exhibit was created with the use of firsthand accounts, as Wodiczko worked with veterans to understand their experiences of hearing bombs and the screams of civilians having to watch their loved ones suffer and even die. For this reason, the psychological effects spectators experience are exceptionally realistic. The artists will be involved in a moderated discussion at the ICA this Veterans Day, discussing the nature of war and how it correlates with his work.

This is not Wodiczko’s first war-experience-based project.  In 1998, he worked with ICA to create the Bunker Hill Monument Project, which focused on Charlestown’s gun violence.  The following year, he worked with ICA again on his Hiroshima Project, in which survivors of the Hiroshima bombing told stories about the tragedy.  His work continues to stir the imagination and give his audience new perspectives of war and war-based artwork.

Wodiczko will be involved in a moderated discussion at ICA this Veterans Day, discussing the nature of war and how it correlates with his work. “…Out of Here: The Veterans Project” will run through Mar. 28.

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ICA shows a ‘Theater of War’