Deconstructing Osama, 2007
This is an ironic work of parody in which the artist disguises himself as an Islamic terrorist, by wearing a fake beard and Arabic attire. By manipulating photos and videos from the Al Yazira channel, the artist places himself in the scenes, superimposing his face to the body of Bin Laden. While one listens to the voice of the terrorist and the subtitles appear in Arabic Fontcuberta actually recites The Pirate’s Song poem written by Espronceda.
As the artist states: “I play with the idea that all these terrorists were actually actors hired by intelligence services in order to represent the villains. That is an idea that has gone through the heads of many people. It simply seems impossible that in that world in a cave in some place in Afghanistan, these home videos, with such a domestic aesthetic, are all real. It becomes unbelievable that some people that had the technological capacity to organize 9-11, the sophistication and the money, are not able to film a video as God orders.”
