CAE – A Desperate Appeal to the Conscience
War crimes were in the news today. The reports focused on both the tragic inadvertent killings of innocent victims and the intended brutality of some soldiers. The horror it evoked inspired this blog entry:
'Immolation' is a special kind of killing because it is associated with fire and sacrifice, as when an animal or plant or some material possession is offered to a deity for foregiveness, mercy, or homage. The video installation of this title that was created by Critical Art Ensemble in 2008 examines the use of incendiary weapons on civilians. This video chronicles the major war crimes of the United States involving these weapons.
Two scales are represented. The landscape registers damage on the macro scale. The human body registers this damage on the micro scale of cells. The images are not artistic renderings. The macro footage was supplied by films of present and past wars that have used immolation against civilian targets. To create the micro footage, CAE grew human tissue at the SymbioticA Art and Science Collaborative Research Laboratory in Perth, Australia that was established by Zurr and Catts. They used sophisticated microscopy shot the micro footage.
Immolation is a tactic that is typically undertaken to terrorize populations. I believe this film was also created to evoke terror. It achieves this by creating graphic depictions of the disastrous effects of war that are equally material and psychological. This work exemplifies how Critical Art Ensemble (CAE)’s tactical media projects sensitize, inform, and ignite viewers. Their work is a quiet but desperate appeal to the conscience.