Rainer Ganahl

Most of Rainer Ganahl’s work centers political and cultural dichotomy and the misunderstandings that are a result thereof. Much of his recent work focuses on problems of translation regarding the so-called ‘war-on-terrorism’. Ganahl’s work probes the freedom of speech, censorship, the relativity of truth in media representations of current events, the cultural divide between east and west and the political bias that governs it. Homeland Security is a single monitor video piece that features a mug shot of the (suspicious-looking) artist delivering simple sentences in a variety of languages that express the current paranoia about terrorism. The work is a humorous comment on cultural and religious misunderstanding and stereotyping but also hints at the danger of imminent and already existing measures that protect “homeland security”, often at the expense of civil liberties. This work is accompanied by hand-embroidered textiles made by Paschtuns near the Afghan border in Pakistan, based on logos taken by Ganahl from western TV channels during the bombing of Afghanistan. Onto these the Paschtuns added their own comments, thus initiating a dialogue between adversaries and reminding us that there are always two sides to the coin.

PARANOIA, HOMELAND SECURITY, TERRORISM, GOD AND KARL MARX
by Rainer Ganahl December/January '02/'03

“Terrorism is mostly a reaction to overwhelming, arrogant, non-negotiating power and will always find the necessary sophistication and ways to cause damage to strategic points within civil society. High tech globalized networks of power and military intelligence are confronted by international terrorists with globalized bases. People with minds of highly destructive intelligence are fearless to die in their suicide operations. There is no way to secure all national and public interests. Targets are not limited to high rise buildings, airports and airplanes. The possible list of vulnerable points is endless and terrorists will always have the first choice, the decisive pick. Global terrorism will always have “open season” if we exclude political means. Terrorism would even win if we turned our private and public spheres into fortresses and destroy our civil societies, something that unfortunately is about to happen. Converting our daily world into a terrorist-proof security mad-house without reorienting our politics would be as suicidal as terrorist actionism. Terrorism will win under whatever circumstances if we don’t engage with the world in a more just and balanced way: if we as Americans – and I am also one of them since Summer of 2002 - continue to believe that we can bully the world and exploit the planet in the interests of an “oiligarchy,” we will unfortunately experience ever new surprises. We will not be safe even if we define segments of the entire world population as “terrorist” and isolate us on every level."

Afghan Dialogues: America at War, 2001-2002 / Silk embroidery / 65 x 170 cm / Courtesy the artist

"Last but not least, the planet earth too will not accept ruthless exploitation and destruction and will too start terrorizing us with chilling effects of destruction, be it global warming and worse. The man made and man provoked catastrophes cannot be looked at as unwanted byproducts or accidents. The need to be studied and included in a large comprehensive calculus that cannot be only reduced to profitability, manipulation and exploitation for short term games. It is all very simple as in an English saying: “What goes around comes around.” I would like to end this essay with the most impressive, most stunning and most simple answer from the most fundamentalist, fanatic corner of the spectrum operating with god in the center of gravitation: Confronted with the Twin Tower Terrorism, Bin Laden compressed all political, social, economic, cultural, racial and religious complexity and causality into one word: “Allah did it.”

(part of the text) http://www.ganahl.info/paranoia.html

www.ganahl.info