Three Love Songs
Three-synced channel video installation
There are many ways to use and manipulate images to create juxtapositions of meanings from the mundane to the extreme. It can be easy to play with these manipulations, and also to play people with them. It can happen anywhere in the world, especially in moments where people are comfortable, when they are not looking closely, when they are not paying attention.
In this piece examines terror and love, and how façades are played through song, specifically Iraqi songs that were commissioned by Saddam Hussein and used to glorify the regime during the decades of his rule. The installation syncs three stylized music videos that each feature an archetypal Western chanteuse: young, blonde, seductive. The first video is theatrically staged in a ‘50s style lounge, the second features a sultry jazz singer in a restaurant, and the third a typically glamorous pop sensation performing a ballad. Each video’s dramatic “look” creates a different atmosphere but the songs dedicated to Saddam Hussein tie them together. The lyrics are sung by the performers in Arabic (Iraqi dialect) and are subtitled in English and classical Arabic. The singers do not know what they are singing about, but they are directed to perform (though voice and gesture) as though the songs were traditional, passionate love songs. It is this uncomfortable juxtaposition – between the lush visual romanticism and the harsh meaning of the lyrics, between the seduction of the performer and comprehension of the viewer – that forms the main conceptual element of this work.
Details:
Duration: 00’08’41 min. (Loop) – Three videos
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Sound: Stereo
Song #1: We still have the patience
We still have the patience,
And the crisis will be trivial
And your palm will be a plate to feed the hungry
Oh father of straight talk, your words are a cure,
You are a head piece (agal) that is the pride of your people
For your eyes many necks can be sacrificed
And to this day the wounds of your enemies have not healed
We are swords, and we only fit in your right hand
Oh protector of the weak and generous to the guest
By Allah (God) we owe our lives to your mustache
Song #2: Father of two lions
Take us with you, and see how we are, lions, we never bow our heads at the time of battle
Our pride is as great as the mountains are high
Oh father of the two lions
Oh father of virility, nothing is as beautiful as your dress
Oh hero, that never slept a night.
If the right hand gets tired, the left hand will fight and if the left gets tired,
Our teeth will carry the sword
The sea is thirsty, it drinks only from you You are the light of our eyes and we are the light for you
Song #3: Enter it!
Enter, and leave it to the strong men,
By Allah we will level the enemy’s necks
The land is free and calls for your protection
Even if we see death we will not give it up
Enter and see how the strong men fight; swords in their hands never splinter
If you point to the star, the star will come
We will wipe America from the map
Justice is with us and God is with us in our hands,
Hard swords will never soften
We will put our flag above the stars our swords will cover the sun
We are not afraid or shaken by a foreigner
For you our lives we sacrifice enter,
And leave it to the strong men,
And our chests will be your shield
