Video excerpt (Channel 1)
Video excerpt (Channel 2)
Video excerpt (Channel 3)
Installation view
Video still
Video/Sound installation
Three Love Songs explores the multiple ways to use and manipulate images to create juxtapositions of meanings from the mundane to the extreme. This piece examines terror and love, and how façades are played through song, specifically Iraqi songs that were commissioned by Saddam Hussein, which were used to glorify the regime during his reign.
The installation syncs three stylised music videos (lounge, jazz and pop) that each features an archetypal western chanteuse: young, blonde, and seductive. Each video’s dramatic ‘look’ creates a different atmosphere; it is the songs dedicated to Saddam Hussein that bind them together. The lyrics are sung by the performers in Arabic (Iraqi dialect) and are subtitled in English and Arabic. The singers do not comprehend the content of the songs; instead, they are directed to perform, vocally and by gesture, as though the songs were traditional, passionate love songs. It is this uncomfortable juxtaposition – between the lush visual romanticism and the harsh meaning of the lyrics, between the seduction of the performer and comprehension of the viewer – that forms the main conceptual element of this work.
This work was shown at: MATHAF- Museum, Doha, (2010), ARTER- Space for Art, Istanbul, (2012), Kunsthalle Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland (2012), Hauser & Wirth Gallery, London (2013) and New Museum, New York city, (2014)
Details:
Video standard: 1080 @25fes (Pal)
We still have the patience,And the crisis will be trivialAnd your palm will be a plate to feed the hungryOh father of straight talk, your words are a cure,You are a head piece (agal) that is the pride of your peopleFor your eyes many necks can be sacrificedAnd to this day the wounds of your enemies have not healedWe are swords, and we only fit in your right handOh protector of the weak and generous to the guestBy Allah (God) we owe our lives to your mustache
Take us with you, and see how we are, lions, we never bow our heads at the time of battleOur pride is as great as the mountains are highOh father of the two lionsOh father of virility, nothing is as beautiful as your dressOh hero, that never slept a night.If the right hand gets tired, the left hand will fight and if the left gets tired, our teeth will carry the swordThe sea is thirsty, it drinks only from youYou are the light of our eyes and we are the light for you
Enter, and leave it to the strong men,By Allah we will level the enemy’s necksThe land is free and calls for your protectionEven if we see death we will not give it upEnter and see how the strong men fight; swords in their hands never splinterIf you point to the star, the star will comeWe will wipe America from the mapJustice is with us and God is with us in our hands,Hard swords will never softenWe will put our flag above the stars our swords will cover the sunWe are not afraid or shaken by a foreignerFor you our lives we sacrifice enter,And leave it to the strong men,And our chests will be your shield