Wafaa Bilal Lecture Question/Response

I really enjoy the obvious, deep personal connection you have with your subject matter.  Do you ever fear that you may have extreme negative, and possibly violent, reactions to your work, such as with "One Chair" or "The Night of Bush Capturing"?  These topics are racy and tricky to deal with and can be interpreted incorrectly at a glance or with a closed mind.  Do you feel as if you are completely clear to all audiences that it is a play on words or ideas, and that you are spreading open mindedness and not sarcasm?

Do you feel as if you have been more successful in getting your ideas across more through video, still images or installations? Or a combination of mediums? Presentation can make or break a work.

RESPONSE
I feel as if that Wafaa Bilal's lecture is the only lecture that I have attended at VCU that I have left wanting to do something about what the artist has presented. In this case, the political situation in our world. I do not necessary speak of the same ideas and concepts in my work, yet I find them more and more interesting as I am studying the idea of spirituality. My question of extreme negative reactions was answered early in the lecture. It disturbs me to be exposed to the large amount of close-mindedness in our world, i.e., Bob Mirch claiming that "all Muslims are liars." Ignorance of other cultures is probably the greatest downfall and limitation in our world. In regards to the video game installation, it was closed because it was negative towards Americans, and created by an Iraqi. Yet the game originated as a quest for someone else's leader, Sadam. Why was that not closed down and taken off of the shelves? We as Americans are not the only people in this world and we do not live the "only way" to live. I sense an incredibly large amount of patriotism toward our country, yet little or no knowledge of others. Patriotism is great of course, to make us a united nation. But we must remember that we are only a small part of a whole, and understanding the whole will better involve yourself in your part. I support Bilal's work 100%, as viewing it will allow a chance to literally involve yourself and look at yourself and how you feel about the entirety of the situation. My other question, about presentation style, was also touched upon in the lecture. Bilal prefers a more interactive type of art, including combinations of installations and video work. I feel as if we as people in the 21st century are so used to always seeing images that we are almost numb to it. Photographs of soldiers dieing and natural disasters all over the world are now the mundane, yet actually seeing something happen and being able to interact with the situation is a much more affective way of communicating a view to the community, and creates actual feelings and opinions, not blind statements, which we unfortunately are surrounded by. The concepts he presents allows a swap in perspective from hunter to hunted and vice versa. This can be a difficult practice for some. Blind statements are created by those who are not willing to learn, grow, and accept with the ever changing world. I feel as if Bilal is doing something that many would be too terrified to ever do, and he, being an Iraqi, is an incredibly strong person and deserves to be listened to by everybody.