|
120822 / gent search and destroy |
Mekhitar Garabedian is of Armenian origin, was born in Syria and
currently lives in Belgium. His grandparents fled Armenia after the 1915
genocide and his family has since lived separated from their roots.
Garabedian often takes his family history as a starting point for his
work. He questions the position of the individual and the development of
his identity in contemporary societies that have been shaped by
migration. Using a wide variety of media he examines how language moulds
the position and psyche of the migrant.
For his contribution to TRACK, Garabedian has composed the words
‘Search and Destroy’ using the empty letter casings of a neon
advertising sign. Large, weathered and ‘dumped’ against the historical
façade of the Butcher’s Hall, the words are in sharp contrast, both in
appearance and content, to the renovated splendour of the
tourist-oriented city centre. ‘Search and Destroy’ is not only the title
of a hit by the 70s nihilistic American punk band The Stooges, but also
a military strategy first employed in the Vietnam War. To Garabedian,
this phrase refers to the way the history of a place is handled and the
way a fracture in the past continues to torment the present.
http://track.be/en/index.php/kunstenaars/detail/mekhitar_garabadian