Symphony is a meditation on the killings of Iraqi teenagers with “Emo” appearances who were targeted and stoned to death by religious extremists in Baghdad in 2012. The work reimagines the aftermath of an imagined massacre through a portrait-scale video and an accompanying sculptural installation.
In the video, sculpted human figures lie scattered across the scene, their mouths connected by threads to the leg of a single dove that struggles to take flight. The image becomes an impossible symphony—an attempted gesture of liberation continually pulled back by the violence that produced it.
The installation extends into a mortuary-like space. A series of small white doors mounted on the wall open to reveal sliding drawers, each containing a gypsum statue representing one of the victims. These quiet, restrained forms function as intimate memorials, confronting viewers with the fragility of youth and the brutality of moral violence enacted in the name of purity.
Video & staircase installation view
Sculptural installation views
Details:
- One-channel video
- Sculptural installation
- 3D anim. video
- Dur.: 01:44 min
- 4K digital | stereo | 16:9
- 14 gypsum statues (each 37 cm)
- Painted white acrylic (doors)
- Sliding beds (morgue-style)
- Video graphics: Martin Jäger
- 3D anim. (doves): Robbie Mueller
- With thanks to Abeer Seikaly
- Comm by.: Arter, Istanbul