Abstract

In 2001, artists Broomberg and Chanarin documented a day in the Iraq war. The result was a visual yet non-descript narrative, achieved with light and presence; a physical documentation of their journey titled The Day Nobody Died. In 1968 photojournalist Eddie Adams captured Saigon Execution in Vietnam, also a war-time image but with the lens of reportage. The former is a rendition of their experience, not bound by the constraints and facets of aestheticising fact. The latter was presented as news and was the receiver of outrage and scrutiny as such. This article explores how representations of humanitarian crises and wartime are complicit in their perpetuation, and how art demonstrates an attempt at representing such events as futile. We seek to establish a link between what is viewed and what is reported; what is seen and what remains outside the picture; an attempt to unravel what the difference is between viewing and witnessing.

摘要

在2001年，艺术家Broomberg和Chanarin记录了伊拉克战争的一天。结果是视觉和非描述性的叙述，通过光线和存在得以实现。他们旅途的身体记录，题为“没有人死亡的日子”。1968年，摄影记者埃迪·亚当斯（Eddie Adams）拍摄了《西贡行刑》在越南，这也是战时的形象，但带有报道文学的镜头。前者是对他们经验的一种再现，不受美学事实的约束和刻面的束缚。后者被作为新闻呈现，并因此受到了愤怒和审查。本文探讨了人道主义危机和战时的表现如何在其长期存续中变得同谋化，以及艺术如何展示出将这种事件描述为徒劳的尝试。我们力求在观看的内容和报告的内容之间建立联系；所看到的以及图片之外的内容；试图揭示观看和见证之间的区别。