Wafaa Bilal, an Iraqi performance artist, can’t sleep because of the paintballs.
Saturday, May 12th, 2007In this strangely disturbing piece of performance art in Chicago, anyone can log on to the internet and shoot Bilal with a paintball gun, even in the middle of the night. The robotic paintball gun is controlled through Bilal’s website. Users can also chat with him and watch him on a webcam.
The idea of shooting anyone with anything non-stop for 45 days is pretty creepy. I enjoy the game of paintball. It’s a team sport with strategy and an objective. But shooting Bilal is like kicking a puppy. I should also note that he’s ignoring basic paintball safety by not wearing a mask.
Bilal is living in the installation, entitled “Domestic Tension”, 24/7 for 45 days. The website is accessible from all over the world, and lists the IP addresses of the ten most recent people to log on and shoot him. For obvious reasons, it’s a pretty intense place to live. Some of Bilal’s own family members have been killed in Iraq, and he’s doing a very interesting job of illustrating what it’s like to live in the midst of constant danger.