siena post4

part two of the bienalle consisted of the arsenalle, also curated by Robert storr it provided a look into the politically charged artists and their expression of politics through art. i found much of the work to be simply too easy to decipher and somewhat force fed into my senses. the piece which i found to be the most moving and there for have chosen to write about was the photographs by -- taken in a war torn and severely damaged Beirut. the photographs were nicely displayed, well lit and framed. each photograph displayed a bullet ridden building empty of all signs of life, giving you the impression that nothing could survive there. the idea of the piece was to display the way in which wars destroy modern structures and make them look as if they are ancient ruins.

when viewing the photographs i was somewhat disturbed when i studied the images up close, the number of rounds fired into the buildings had crumbled the cement soo much they looked as if they were ruins. how the artist captured the images when the light was flat and the streets were empty only make the pictures more intense and captivating. when viewing the photographs it was a slightly depressing feeling that came over me. as the streets are so devoid of life and structures are soo dull and crumbled. the idea that at one time this place thrived and was a successfully city but due to political reasons civil war tore it apart.