Shell Shock and Awe: War, Capital and Carnage in Iraq

Christof Bϋchel: "Unplugged (Simply Botiful)"

Pireos 260

7-11pm every day til 6 July 2010

Even after a shower to remove the grime left on my body after visiting this awesome exhibition in Athens I am still reeling from the impact of the installation.

Taking the headline from a UK right-wing tabloid article 'Simply Botiful' Christoph Bϋchel 'forces the viewer to take part in physically demanding and psychologically uncomfortable scenarios'.

In a space 15m x 15m the artist arranges 10 rooms of death and destruction in such a way that you can almost taste the fear of the millions of Iraqi's who were murdered or affected by the so-called War on Terror in Iraq.

And it is certainly not for the faint hearted or easily offended. Using original items recovered from the aftermath of the Iraq war—bullet riddled clothes, photos, pornography, a full bar frequented by the military, voting booths and bomb-making equipment—Buechel gives us a glimpse, a striking insight, of what is daily life for both the invaders and the victims.

The stench is shocking. In one room, a caravan clearly used for soldiers sexual gratification, an airfreshner can sits alongside remnants of women's underwear and fag-butts. Loud, brash American rave music blares from a tiny sound-system and competes for your attention with an Arabic voice coming from a TV in another area.

The contradictions in this exhibition cause confusion. My companion, the cartoonist Carlos Latuff, said 'it causes an inconvienience in my brain...it makes my body feel sick'. It certainly left a foul taste in my mouth.

This exhibition is in no way beautiful. How can it be? 'War is NOT beautiful' Latuff reflected.

Take time to sit in every room, to absorb the atmosphere and to examine every piece of the 1,000's of items to really get a view of Iraq through the eyes of hard core, pro-war American soldiers. Talk to the bar men. Climb up every ladder. Crawl through every hole. Wear sensible clothing.

With politics as good as is display in this installation no doubt the artists price tag of Euro600k covered mainly what I imagine to be very high transportation costs. That profiteering from war comes at a price is thoroughly displayed within this exhibition.

For more details go to: http://tinyurl.com/iraqart