Saddam’s Arse (prototype #1)
Wax and stand
20x35cm
2011
“The scenes of free Iraqis celebrating in the streets, riding American tanks, tearing down the statues of Saddam Hussein in the center of Baghdad are breathtaking. Watching them, one cannot help but think of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Iron Curtain”
From the prolonged “War on Terror”, most will recall the fall of the Saddam Hussein statute 20 days into the invasion of Iraq and the rapturous crowd response at Firdos Square in 2003. This was followed by the poignant imagery that documented the dragging of Saddam’s head through the streets of Baghdad. It is claimed this is the second most choreographed photographic war moment after Iwo Jima. The toppling of the statue happened just outside of most of the hotels where foreign journalists were housed and the journalistic opportunity is more than apparent. In this case the audience is uncountable as it bounced of satellites to all corners of the earth. This sculpture of a section of Saddam’s buttocks is a replica of a piece “acquired” at the falling by ex-solider and photojournalist Nigel ‘Spud’ Ely of which he is attempting to sell. The event questions photography and the wax questions war.
“… as a result of the media coverage, the statue it came from has probably been viewed by a bigger audience than even the Statue of Liberty and, by definition, is probably the most famous statue of all time – or even the most infamous statue of all time. It does therefore offer an opportunity to get a message across to a vast number of people and I believe the content of this message is very important”.
If you are interested in purchasing the original visit the website above, if you are interested in purchasing an editioned replica (as presented in this cube) cast in bronze contact Haggblom.
Kristian Haggblom is an artist, independent curator and educator who came to Mildura in 2008 to work at La Trobe University. He has exhibited internationally and curated projects with artists from Japan, Finland and Switzerland. Haggblom’s work ponders the notion of landscape and how we, as humans, impose across all spaces we inhabit, and how this is recorded as culture. For more detailed information visit: www.kristianhaggblom.com
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