Alfredo Jaar

The Cloud.
2000.
Three thousand helium filled ballons.

The Silence of Nduwayezu.
1997.
Light table, slides, slide magnifier, light box with black/white transparency.

A Logo for America.
1987.
Spectacolor lightboard.

May 1, 2011.
2011.
2 LCD monitors, 2 framed prints. Official press photograph from the White House by Pete Souza of President Obama and his staff following the progress of the Bin Laden compound raid.

Lament of the Images.
2002.
Two light rectangular light tables.
One on the floor; the other is suspended from the ceiling which arises and descends.

Alfredo Jaar is a performance artist that uses various political and world issues- genocide, US-Mexico border patrol- as the basis of his work. In Jaar's most recent piece, May 1, 2011, his audience gets to re-live the moments that President Barack Obama and his staff experienced when Osama Bin Laden was finally captured. Seeing photographs of his work doesn't really do the experience just; even watching a video for something like the concept of The Cloud seems to be unjust in the realm of his piece. The Cloud was a "ephemeral monument" that represented the live of citizens of Mexico crossing the borders to America in hopes of a better life. The white balloons released represented the lives of the people who've attempted the dangerous feat years prior to the work. I chose Jaar because as I was completing the reading his piece Geography=War reminded me of a childhood toy and I wanted to know more about his approach to art and other world issues.