Hospitality

The psychological and physical state of military personnel changes drastically after returning from overseas missions, such as those in the Gulf, the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan. The symptoms that they "host" are recognizable to medical experts as various forms of cancer. In the media, the "horrors" they experience are known by names such as Balkan Syndrome or Gulf War Syndrome, and their health problems are linked to the use of weapons containing depleted uranium (DU), as well as to the presence of invisible nanoparticles in the atmosphere that penetrate the victims' bodies. Nonetheless, sudden increases in incidences and mutations are causing doubts as to the nature of these illnesses. Sufferers sink into a state of limbo similar to that experienced by those living in the war zones the soldiers just left. In this state they wander alone in silence, waiting for a cure or perhaps just death. For this monumental and touching installation by the Serbian documentary artist Bogomir Doringer, a unique collection of biopsy samples is "hosted" by a ferrofluid sculpture that transforms its shape before our eyes. Examining the relationship between fiction and reality, the project questions the intention of "hospitality" and the responsibility of those who offer it. We are uninformed "hosts," exposing our bodies and minds to an aggressive transformation.