Shoot the Iraqi!

Indeed Bilal is emphatic that his art installation is not a pro-Saddam statement. In the 1990s he was jailed for his political artwork and forced to flee the country when he refused to enlist in the invasion against Kuwait. “I was very [BANG, BANG] much against what he had done,” he says. “That being said, I was against the war because I understand there is another [BANG] way to take Saddam out without subjecting the country to the mess we’re in now. One must understand this is not only about Iraq. [BANG] You have over 3,000 American soldiers who have died. How can you support the troops and put [BANG] them in harm’s way?” The yellow of the paintballs, he says, was a deliberate choice, meant to echo the yellow “Support Our Troops” ribbons.

And the little yellow pellets, which travel at 350 feet a second, have destroyed the gallery walls. Susan Aurinko, the gallery’s director and owner, says she will have to re-drywall the entire room. Paint has also seeped into the basement, forcing Aurinko to move artwork that has been stored there. “I live upstairs from the [BANG] gallery, so I hear it all night long,” she says. “I’m up with him, too.” Most of the shooting, curiously, occurs between midnight and 4 a.m., meaning Bilal averages two to four hours of sleep a night. And even then, he must endure the nightmares.

© 2007