HOLLY STANDEN

Now Look At What We've Done, 2018

Audio-Visual Installation

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This installation addresses how the UK Arm’s trade has affected the Humanitarian crisis in Yemen. The effect is subtle, the audience are drawn in by the delicate material and the trance like sounds, and then the jarring elements of the sonic piece kick in and you begin to notice that this is not a peaceful and pleasant artwork. The space on the floor allows the audience to move through the installation however they wish so they can each experience it in their own way. The plumes seem to indicate falling bombs, but they also refer to the lives taken by those bombs, and how many of those people may end up buried in grave only marked by a stone. The chiffon and the orange glow relate to the process of death and burial in Yemen, where the dead are buried in a shroud before sunset on the same day. The texture of the chiffon speaks of peace and serenity, but the LED’s have a taste of aggression; they remind us of the war that is causing these deaths.