Requiem: Enduring Afghanistan 2015

Curator: Well, this strikes me as profoundly mournful. It’s subtle, but incredibly moving. Editor: Indeed. What we have here is Harriet Bart’s mixed-media installation, "Requiem: Enduring Afghanistan," created in 2015. A rather conceptual piece using metal and a repurposed book. The chain-link fence…quite striking. Curator: The fence seems almost ethereal. Not solid or threatening, despite its nature. Then, this cloud, or perhaps even an implosion of metallic fragments in its center… I get a real sense of fragmented memories. A nation in pieces. Editor: Precisely. The fence, in its geometric regularity, establishes a formal structure. A rigid grid. And that suspended cloud—a deconstruction within the order, if you will. Observe how the light catches the metallic elements, creating both solidity and ephemeral qualities simultaneously. The book, situated on its own stand, seems to hold the key. Curator: Ah, yes, the book! It's open, as if someone was just interrupted reading. To me, it feels like knowledge, or perhaps stories, attempting to escape before it all vanishes. Fleeing before the fence fully disintegrates. Do you see what I mean? Like whispers refusing to be silenced, in the face of…obliteration? Editor: I follow. The placement—juxtaposing text and texture—suggests a narrative tension. But consider, too, the minimalist approach. Bart refrains from overt representation. Instead, we are invited to decode symbols. The formal coolness contrasts with the emotional weight of the subject matter. There is an objective tension, you see. Curator: Objectively tense, but subjectively…shattering! I can feel the emotional intent oozing. All this talk of structure…It all works, Formalist! Do you think that book is trying to show us that we should look in between the fence cracks for light? That the book maybe represent all that there is good over in Afghanistan? Editor: Perhaps, but her artistic statement seems pretty clear that she wishes for a moment of meditation. The artist seems like to offer space, away from personal pain to process. A requiem of sorts...a final thought about war's toll. . Curator: Beautiful. The artist is always right. Editor: Indeed, always. Let us proceed.