Sun. March 28, 2010

Last call! It would arrogant of us to say we understood anything of what being in a real war is like. What we've learned, we've learned from books, music and movies. Particularly wrenching are the spate of books written from soldiers' perspectives during the first two World Wars. Music? "Death, blood and horror," Eric Bogle sang about Gallipoli in "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda." He accomplished something just as powerful in "The Green Fields of France" about WWII. (The Pogues did killer versions of both.) There's "Saving Private Ryan," the opening scene. There's "Platoon." And there's work set in museums, like "The Veterans Project," new large-scale video installation by Krzysztof Wodiczko (in photo) up at The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston Nov. 4 and running through March 28. It focuses on the experience of war in Iraq. Based on the artist's conversations with soldiers who have returned from Iraq as well as Iraqi civilians, the new work builds on their memories of the chaos and confusion of war. Since 1980, Wodiczko has created more than 80 projections of politically-charged images on civic buildings and monuments worldwide. And on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, he'll be speaking at 6:30, a session moderated by the ICA's director of programs, David Henry. Admission: $15.

In the installation the routines of life are interrupted by the noise of destruction and chaos as Wodiczko's narrative unfolds across three walls of the gallery. This immersive chronicle is based on the artist's contact with medics, soldiers and refugees affected by the current conflict in Iraq. These participants described their experiences and shared with the artist video and audio of life during wartime-from the daily broadcast of prayers and interactions with local children, to the distinctive sound of Humvees in transit or of sniper fire erupting. Created from their stories and accounts, the projected scenario reflects physical and psychological environment of combat, as well as the fragmented way experiences are perceived in distressing or uncertain situations.

"Wodiczko's work gives voice to individuals with extraordinary stories, revealing issues of conflict, vulnerability and survival through moving projections of image and sound," says ICA Director Jill Medvedow. "Our 1998 collaboration with the artist, the Bunker Hill Monument Projection, drew attention to Boston residents whose lives had been devastated by violence and silence. We are honored to be working with the artist again, on a project of such timeliness and importance."
 
"Through multiple projections and audio, The Veterans Project re-creates the ambiguity of war conditions inside the ICA gallery, bringing us closer to understanding the physical realities of war as well as its emotional and psychological impact," says Randi Hopkins, associate curator at the ICA. "Resembling a warehouse or military shelter, the gallery walls appear pierced or broken. What is happening outside is very near, very threatening, yet only partly understood."
 
Since 2008, Wodiczko has been exploring the experience of veterans in a number of different works. The Veteran Vehicle Project (2008) and the War Veteran Vehicle (2009) illustrated the complexity of social reintegration for returning soldiers through projections of their words and recordings of their testimonies. In the Veterans' Flame (2009), video of a flickering candle moved in sync with the sound of veterans' telling their stories. Wodiczko's work for the ICA presents the veterans' experience from a different perspective. In place of recordings of the participants' voices, the artist has-for the first time-woven his conversations with soldiers and civilians into a dramatic narrative representing their collective memories of the experience of war.
 

Significantly, Wodiczko has expanded our notion of the word "veteran" in his work, employing the term to encompass civilians as well as military personnel. This subtle shift in the way the artist uses the word expresses an attempt to re-think the roles of all parties impacted by armed conflicts, and of re-evaluating our concept of war. Wodiczko's belief in art's transformative potential is evident as The Veterans Project unfolds. Damage fades, and the physical scars of war seem to disappear - just before the film loops back to the beginning.
 
"Only those who went through this experience of war can understand what really happens in this situation," says Wodiczko. "But at least perhaps through the exhibition we come to understand how little we understand."

The ICA is open Tuesday and Wednesday, 10 am - 5 pm; Thursday and Friday, 10 am - 9 pm; and Saturday and Sunday, 10 am - 5 pm.  Admission is $15 adults, $10 seniors and students, and free for members and children 17 and under. ICA Free Admission for Youth is sponsored by State Street Foundation. Free admission on Target Free Thursday Nights, 5 - 9 pm.

100 Northern Ave., 617-478-3100, www.icaboston.org.