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Light'em All Up, 2011
10 x 14 x 1 in
The video footage referred to in Light'em all up was released by Wikileaks in 2010. Shot from an Apache helicopter's gun-sight, it shows a group of people gathered in a Baghdad street, on 12 July 2007. A U.S. Army helicopter pilot, using the moniker 'Crazy Horse', surveys the area and wrongly identifies the group as armed insurgents. A radio-transmitted voice urges the pilot to shoot: "Light'em all up. Come on, fire!". Moments later, a soldier in the American crew laughs: "Oh yeah, look at those dead bastards". A squad patrolling on the ground identifies two wounded children in a van. "Well it's their fault for bringing their kids into a battle" responds the voice. Twelve unarmed civilians, including two Reuters journalists, died during the incident. Private Bradley Manning, who was charged with disclosing this video, is now imprisoned in Fort Leavenworth military jail, Kansas.
Exhibitions
The Light That Burns Twice as Bright, Cristea Roberts Gallery, London, UK (09/14/2011 to 10/05/2011)