wafaa bilal: lecture question & response

Visiting Artist Lecture: Wafaa Bilal

"Iraqi born artist Wafaa Bilal has exhibited his art world wide, and traveled and lectured extensively to inform audiences of the situation of the Iraqi people, and the importance of peaceful conflict resolution."

Question one: Having the subject for the majority of your work, be something so political, bold, and harsh, while you are trying to highlight the importance of peaceful conflict resolution, I do understand your methods by portraying brutal, violent performance pieces. Why would you choose to do harm unto your own body, if you understand how painful and unethical it is for people to conflict pain unto each other? Should you not be the one to put a stop to it?

Question two: Does putting yourself in these "conditions", make others see the "lack of peace" in the world? Do you think that by experiencing these conditions in first person, and showing it to the world brings the action into light for world, or is it really for yourself, as an artist, to experience?

Response after Lecture:
The most interesting quote of the lecture was "all art is political art, the refusal to make political work is political art." I felt towards the end, I was able to genuinely connect with Bilal despite our differences in background, life, experiences, beliefs, and everything, but somehow after leaving the lecture, I felt a quite light and open mentally. It felt what he said, was almost as if he read my thoughts. I came in hesitant and reserved thinking I would not really enjoy Bilal would have to say, having previously looked at his work online. The three words that original thought of that described his work was violent, sadistic, angst. However, when I left the three words I had brought with became empathetic, compassionate, and honest.

I felt one of the things he spoke about in all his works was the idea of comfort zone versus conflict zone. The way I had felt originally, being ignorant and hesitant about understanding what he had to give was shifted and soften and changed at the end, after having exchanged a one-way dialogue with him, being spoken to and listening. I was in my comfort zone with not wanting to deal with the issues he so passionately follow. He brought me out of my comfort zone with his work. He brought me into a conflicting zone, his work made me uncomfortable, the intensity, the violent, and startling nature of warfare and blood and death. But then he told stories of his experiences in these work, film clips of his vulnerability, fragile state of mind, and stories of other encounters on the web, for his paintball project, similar to mine. People did not take the time to understand and engage themselves with the things that they fear. I am moved by this and was able to change my heart and listened, listened beyond the words that we was saying, but also feeling his personal pains and experiences. He was able to show me that "the body has its own language." He made me feel that it was possible to take on responsibility of a greater cause, even if you are just one man/woman. I saw this paintball project for something greater then it first appeared to be. He was finally able to deliver me back home, into my comfort zone, but now to contemplate on the big questions in life.

His work is powerful, but it was through what he had to say about the works afterward, that was intense and striking. The physical nature of the work itself, I did not care for. It was his experiences and growth from the work, afterward that I craved for more.