THE ROPE OF AN UNKOWN GALLOWS
(sink, water, 8 sec. video loop)
Recorded in Deheisha, Palestine

It was the second to last day in the camp. A strange day. Friday. Early afternoon. Before
lunch. The same lunch we ate yesterday. And the day before. Hummous. Some djaj. French fries.
Always french fries. I don't remember where Rania was. Or the name of the guy who was supposed to return
back to California that afternoon. I had been sharing a room with him but only saw him asleep,
big white dude who's legs hung over the edge of the bunk. I was in the computer lab with the students,
we were exchanging mp3 sites. We heard yelling. Some gun fire, more yelling. Silence, they didn't flinch.
We waited. 15 minutes. We ventured outside. The street was on fire. "No water in the camp!"
So they shut the road down. This is how it works I was told. A regular occurance. The big white guy had his stuitcase.
He wanted to leave. He didn't want to leave. He took pictures from a distance. I had known some of the kids helping
raze the street. I approached with camera in hand. In this place, always camera in hand.
"There's no water in the camp"
he told me as he heaved the concrete block into the street. Fire. Concrete. Young. Men. This small concrete brick
which he infused with so much frustration. Released. My camera followed him. Perhaps
the most powerful gesture I have ever witnessed. At that moment, all that was wrong in the world existed in the space
between this concrete block and the asphalt it was aimed at. For an instant, it was smashed to oblivion.
But only for this moment. And at that moment, in the midst of the fire and yelling and honking, as the concrete hit the asphalt,
I thought about the difference between concrete and asphalt. Materially there is not much difference. Functionally
they could not be further apart. The asphalt, meant to provide a surface ensuring smooth transportation, the concrete to obstruct.
These opposites collide. This small concrete brick transforms the comparitivly vast expanse of asphalt into an obstructed object.

All I can do is record this event. 8 seconds in Deheisha.