DJ / VJ Teen New Media Class

Krzysztof Wodiczko...Out of Here: The Veteran's Project, opens on Wednesday November 4, 2009.

Three works featured in this video, an interview with Krzysztof Wodiczko as featured in Art 21:

(1) The St Louis Projection (2004) at St. Louis Public Library
(2)The Hiroshima Projection (1999)
(3) Bunker Hill Monument, Boston (1998)
(4) The Tijuana Projection (2001)

And fourth project, called "Dis-Armor," (1999-2000) is featured here.

He has been making video projections for over thirty years. "I seem to work with people who survive," he says, "who heal themselves." He seeks to establish trust, so that the people he works with and interviews feel comfortable

"I make notes or sketches during the process of recording and editing to see how the body of the person will connect with the body of the monument or facade or sculpture. So I need to make sketches - over and over again - sketching the body of the building and trying to see the extreme cases where the movement of hands or head or both will be at risk to cross the boundary or outline of the architectural form. The technical reasons are obvious..." - Krzysztof Wodiczko

"The Tijuana Projection"
2001
Public projection at the Centro Cultural de Tijuana, Mexico (as part of In-Site 2000)

"Tijuana. It's a border not only between Mexico and the United States, but also between Tijuana and the rest of Mexico...for many people who come from poor provinces such as Chiapas to try to advance their life by moving north. They cross the border before they reach Tijuana. That's the border between the feudal village and work in the maquiladora factory as members of a new kind of industrial proletariat. They say they move from an old hell to a new hell. For many of them, that's an advantage. Perhaps there is nothing worse than to stay in the same hell all their life long." - Krzysztof Wodiczko

The Veteran's Project: on view at the ICA from November 4, 2009 - March 28, 2010

"The gallery looks like an interior of a warehouse or an old military base. Projected grids of windows, near flush with the ceiling of the gallery, provide a view skyward."

These are the opening lines of a script drafted in summer 2009 by Polish-born artist Krzysztof Wodiczko. His politically-charged works explore the relationship between art, democracy, trauma and healing.

Soldiers engaged in active combat in the most recent American conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as civilians living on those countries, experience first-hand the uncertainty and trauma of war. Civilians and soldiers alike bear witness to situations that are fraught with ambiguity, facing questions about the meaning of protection, security, and innocence. Soldiers find themselves in situations where personal defense and professional aims often come at the price of civilian lives, while civilians find themselves in harm's way or possibly under suspicion.

The impact of war on individuals in a society remains remote to many.

He uses the word "veteran" to describe both civilians and soldiers, recognizing that both participate and bear witness to situations that are fraught with fear and ambiguity.

Using these stories as the basis for a narrative that unfolds across three walls, Wodizcko "transforms the ICA's gallery into a private emotional field while also using the museum as a public forum for dialogue."

The work that is being created for the ICA is a multi-channel video projection.