“We hope to be finished by lunchtime…..” (work in progress)
kennardphillipps
2010

A work inspired by the Iraq Inquiry, commissioned by PhotoIreland for exhibition at the National Photographic Archive, Dublin, July 2010

Iraq: a process of resistance documents the visual protest made by artists kennardphillipps against the invasion of Iraq and the transpiring obliteration of civilian life in Iraq 2002 – 2008. The work aims to be accessible by the general public and to involve them in questions relating to activism and art. Designed for the Brighton Photo Biennial 2008, Iraq: a process of resistance was shown at Ink-d gallery.

kennardphillipps began their collaborative work as a means to express their revulsion at the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq. They aim to use their skills to express their solidarity with the Iraqi people and to produce work that can be used as a resource by anyone protesting against the war including magazines and newspapers.

From throwing dust, blood and oil onto a flatbed scanner for their first series of prints (Award) they moved on to working on paintings combining oil paint with digital printing and then onto large scale works printed on newspapers which are ripped and pummelled in an attempt to physically portray the war-torn country and a people devasted by relentless attack.

This exhibition is designed to show how photographic images from the media can be recontextualised through the processes of art to rip through the lies of mass destruction peddled by the USA and UK government led by George Bush and Tony Blair. By looking at individual press photographs and recombining them in a new context their work offers an audience an alternative view of the construction of war.

photos by Kristian Buus

Invited on a short residency at Interface, Ulster University of Art and Design in Belfast we were given the freedom to work on the printing technology, printing on objects and burning with a laser cutter we produced the Atlas World Times, montaging images of the destruction in Iraq onto the pages of the atlas, cutting through the margins with barcodes, dollar signs and corporate logos. We messed around with different ideas before we found the atlas idea…………..

Blairaq

pigment ink and pva on newspaper

300cm x 600cm

Leonard Street Gallery, London, Uk  2007

detail of bush/iraq portrait

Soldier #1 billboard in Old Street London 2007

Iraq Destroyed

pigment ink on newspaper

350cm x 300cm

Houston Centre of Photography, Texas USA 2007.

The work is a portrait of George Bush printed across 58 copies of the Houston Chronicle torn through to reveal images of the destruction of the Iraqi people and their landscape.

review of the work in the Houston Chronicle