Green

Documentation ” Green” Video Installation Project as part of Collateral Event “In the eye of Thunderstorm” 56th Venice Biennale 2015. Ahmed El Shaer, Green, Digital Installation 25 photo prints on photographical paper, each 20x15cm ; 7 inches screen with 21 inches magnifying sheet; video 3,00’’ An old, 2003, American video game, entitled Command & Conquer: Generals, has been dismantled to its basic alphabets and restructured to an alternative and more personal narrative. The initial game teamed the United States of America with China against a radical terrorist fundamentalist organization. USA played in blue color, China in red, and the terrorist group in green. The choice of green was not a coincidence. Green color has been linked to the Egyptian Orthodox church in fabric and decoration, and has been linked to Egyptian Sufi shrines. Today, in many urban landscapes in the Middle East, the clear visible marker at night is the green neon lights that decorate mosque tops. The sacred symbol of the color in the local Middle East culture is undeniable. Referring to the digital code of a well-known Atari Game, whose images are made by eight bits only (which by all standards are considered today archaeological), the artist corrupted the information to create a personal narrative: his “hero” is a digital insect, easily accessible in Radio Shack, capable of reproducing authentic anatomy and movement dynamics of the real bug. Here it is aimed to animate those manipulated digital information. In such a way nature, which is also typically referred to by green color, the actual insect, its disquieting electronic avatar, war games and holy symbols find a new and disturbing synthesis.SHOW LESS