The House of Osama bin Laden

Langlands + Bell

25 October 2003

Interactive digital animation, digital animation, video.

Interactive digital animation, digital animation, video. Courtesy: the artists and the Imperial War Museum, London. Commissioned by Trustees of the Imperial War Museum, London. Production: Tom Barker and Niki Holmes. Additional digital artwork and design: Richard Wilding.

This installation consists of three projections and a group of five flags. The core projection, The House of Osama bin Laden, is an interactive 3D simulation of the house in which the Al Qaeda founder lived in Jalalabad, an archaeological endeavour to understand people and cultures through the spaces they inhabit. Zardad’s Dog is a short film from live footage that the artists shot at the trial of a notorious war commander at the Supreme Court in Kabul. NGO is a computer animation based on the signage and acronyms of the large number of NGOs operating in Afghanistan and advertising their presence in the streets. The installation explores the legal, religious and humanitarian complexities of the aftermath of September 11 and the Western intervention in Afghanistan.