X-ray art project reveals the human cost of terrorism

A small group of students met in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library Room 225 Monday for a meet-and-greet session with artist Diane Covert, whose art exhibit is currently being displayed on the fourth floor.

The X-ray Project is a collection of X-rays and CT scans from victims of terrorist attacks, namely suicide bombings.

"I chose X-rays because I know that it's so hard for some people to look at straight photographs," Covert said. "Plus there was something so beautiful and interesting about X-rays."

Matias Nonato, a sophomore music major, said that using the X-rays was a unique way of showing the reality of the victims.

"Anytime you hear about terrorist attacks it's so impersonal. … I also liked that she could keep the victim's identity private," Nonato said.

Covert said she got the idea for the project in 2002 while driving her teenage daughter to a violin lesson. Covert was listening to the NPR program "All Things Considered" and the title of the segment was "Palestinian Women."

"This was shortly after the first female suicide bomber had exploded on the streets in Jerusalem and what bothered me was that the reporter wasn't talking about the victims, but instead was calling this an act of female activism for Palestinian women," Covert said.

The X-rays and CT scans are from two of the largest hospitals in Jerusalem.

"I was able to make the most contacts in Jerusalem and they had the most materials available but they could just have easily come from the many places in the world where terror attacks have occurred," Covert said.

The images are displayed against black or white photography paper and are covered in reflective glass casing.

"I did that so that no matter where you stand, or how you look at the images you will inevitably see yourself and your friends because these images stand for all of us," Covert said.

The artist explained how, fundamentally, the human skeleton does not vary much from person to person, but that it is our sex, religion and political views that make us different from each other. If what makes us different on the outside is taken away, we are left with what makes us the same on the inside.

Sarah Bronstein, a sophomore political science major, said, "It really makes it real to you, as much as you can look at pictures at dead bodies but looking through them is so different."

Covert said that what makes humans different from animals is our ability to use tools for good.

"This exhibit shows how we've used tools in ways that harm each other, it really puts a different perspective on the human race when you see images of arms with nails in it or a neck with a watch blown into it," Bronstein said.

Covert said she refuses to accept there is a political belief that justifies terrorist activity.

"This exhibit is a personal response to terrorism and began with my discomfort with the way terrorism has been justified," Covert said.

Bronstein also participated in the Student Panel on Global Terrorism that was held earlier that afternoon. The panel discussed the impacts of global terrorism in communities and strategies to solve the issue.

"I think people like to think that terrorism is something that we should leave up to our leaders but I think it's a human issue, an ideology," Bronstein said. "If we can stop the spread of this ideology then we can diminish its effect on us as a people."

Nonato felt that the exhibit was especially important.

"We're so isolated here because we don't have an understanding of what goes on in other places, any kind of exposure to other realities outside of our own can only be helpful," he said.

Covert expressed in her discussion during the meet-and-greet session that change can come if the focus on terrorism can be changed.

"By not recognizing the victim's we have inadvertently supported it by showing so much empathy and compassion for the terrorists. … By doing so, the perpetrators will have to find some other way," Covert said.

Rohan Dhamnaskar, a junior computer science major and representative of the Indian Student Organization, said he felt that the exhibit made an important statement.

"Terrorism does not have boundaries; it does not look at if you are a man or a woman, it does not look at your religion, or what nationality you are," he said. "It affects everyone."

The X-Ray Project is sponsored by the Hillel of Silicon Valley and The David Project. It is located on the fourth floor of the King Library and will be on display until Nov. 15.

The Spartan Daily
Megan Wood
Issue date: 11/8/07