Excavators

Excavators is a single channel film which part of a larger portfolio of photographic and video work exploring the role of both the physical body and the 'virtual' body (through its representation in art and architecture) in the real and imagined landscapes of the Middle East.

By examining the history of idolatry and the ebb and flow of iconoclasm and aniconism in monotheistic religions Al-Ani was able to explore the relationship between the desire to eradicate the image of the body and the literal disappearance of the 'real' body in situations of conflict or war. Once the body of a soldier who falls in battle or a victim of genocide is disposed of in the landscape, discreet signs of disturbance on the surface of the earth are often the only clues to its presence. Having been moved by the story of Margaret Cox and her work to uncover the mass graves of victims of genocide, Al-Ani became interested in the parallels between the work of forensic anthropologists and that of archaeologists: through the delicate and painstaking deconstruction of a site, the unpicking of evidence and eventually to the reconstruction of events leading to the formation of a given site.

In contrast with the large-scale Shadow Sites films, Excavators is shown on a tiny 5 inch monitor. Focusing on a group of industrious ants working in the sand, the film draws attention to an activity in the landscape that could very easily be overlooked and the results of which are hard to comprehend. What is the purpose of all this activity and what might it expose or uncover?

For a record of the exhibition of this work at the Smithsonian see: http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/3652/.