Inside Terrorism: the X-ray Project

Posted 4:47 PM, August 22, 2007, by jaruiz

"The idea for 'Inside Terrorism' began to coalesce in my mind in 2002 as a personal response to terrorism and to my discomfort with the way terrorism has been justified in some circles. This is a documentary of survivors of terrorism," remarked Diane Covert, the artist who created "Inside Terrorism: the X-ray Project." Sponsored by the Radiology Interest Group at Stanford (RIGS) along with various co-sponsors, this exhibit will be showing at the Fairchild Auditorium from September 4-15.

The images of "Inside Terrorism: the X-ray Project" are striking and emotional but, at the same time, are devoid of graphic imagery such as that depicted in Francisco Goya's images of war or Mathew Brady's photographs of the Civil War. We are shown pieces of survivors in CT scans and X-rays with titles like "Smashed Arm," "Damaged Leg," and "Broken Foot." The medium of X-ray and CT, however, makes the horror seem a step removed from the truly gritty and bloody reality of war wounds.

The mundane is made bizarre with images such as "Hex Nut in Brain," "Nail in Arm," and "Watch in Neck." Terrorists often create bombs using common objects, such as hex bolts, nuts, nails, and watches, that were meant for peaceful, utilitarian purposes. These unusual images are the by-products of terrorism's war on civilians.

The images of "Inside Terrorism: the X-ray Project" are displayed on four-sided kiosks, illuminated from the inside, and as standard wall-hung pieces. The CT and X-ray images are of victims of terrorist attacks from the two largest hospitals in Jerusalem, but they could be from anywhere--London, Madrid, New York, Lebanon, etc.

The artist, Diane Covert, described her choice of this unusual medium as follows: "Photography is a way of making an image by drawing with the very light that the objects reflect, so when we look at photographs from the Civil War battlefield of Antietam, we see something very close to the horror of the scenes as they appeared to the photographer. We see records of actual events. Modern medicine draws not with the visible light spectrum used in photography, but with electromagnetic radiation--X-rays and CT scans--and with this we can see inside the human body."

The opening reception for the exhibit is on September 4 from 5:30 PM-7:30 PM. To view the exhibit online, please go to http://www.x-rayproject.org.