Imaging conflict

Is objectivity possible in visual representation of conflict? Research and discussion is proving that it is inherently problematic, whether it is through mass media or contemporary art. There is a need for an alternative way in which to represent violence and struggle, and perhaps a need for an alternative to ‘looking’ at crises from a comfortable distance. A number of art projects and individual pieces have raised awareness to the systemic faults of visual representation as a method of objective communication.

Artist Renzo Martens’s 90-minute film, ‘Episode III: Enjoy Poverty’, from 2008, takes place in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and suggests that the country’s biggest export is poverty, by filming non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and journalists capturing images of suffering for their own financial gain. He uses film and photography to discuss the problems of technology and protocol for showing and distributing images of misery. It is in works like these that the viewer’s position of responsibility is brought to foreground. In an interview from 1972, Jean Luc Godard spoke about the problems of representing the suffering of others through visual imagery. He said that those involved with representing suffering, even with good intentions are still a part of the exploitation. This is the stance that is held by a number of artists working today, who question the effectiveness and ethics of these representations.

Increasingly, the lines between artistic creativity and factual information in contemporary art are becoming blurred. Artist Aernout Mik confronts similar issues; one work in particular, ‘Raw Footage’ from 2006, used Reuters and Independent Television News (ITN) as its departure point. He took leftover footage from the Bosnian war from the Reuters and ITN archives and compiled it into a video installation. The piece exposes how mass media has a tendency to air short scenes of spectacular occurrences to paint a picture of an entire conflict; however, the unused footage highlights the reality of a lack of spectacle. John Douglass Miller wrote: “It [contemporary art] is a unique form of knowledge production that is able to acknowledge its own subjectivity …That is not to say that they [artists] do not have any moral or ethical responsibility, but that the artist is able to explore beyond the tired liberal mores of political correctness.” Journalists, on the other hand, are bound by time constraints, format and perspective.

There is an urgency for ethically problematic representations of political and humanitarian unrest to be addressed. There is no position of neutrality in the institutions of image production in the context of humanitarian crises, even photojournalism, including NGOs and Médecins Sans Frontières. Works such as Episode III and Raw Footage show the issues surrounding visual presentation of conflict. Ethically sound representations of conflict do not yet exist, and an increasing number of contemporary artists are bringing this to light through their work.