Broken Bodies, Disruptured Landscapes:
Landmines as Bio-Power
in Afghanistan and Cambodia
In this paper I will examine the relationship between Foucault’s
concept of bio-power and the human suffering caused by landmines in
Afghanistan and Cambodia as depicted by paintings from the Australian artist
George Gittoes. I first discuss aspects of George Gittoes’ ‘Minefields’ series and
his artistic approach, and then provide a theoretical framework for exploring
landmines as bio-power. Jackson’s notion of the metaphor of the body as a
metaphor of the land, and Foucault’s concept of bio-power are examined in
relation to landmines. Both concepts provide a relevant backdrop for exploring
the correspondence between self and place, and technology’s remapping of the
body as a ‘decorporealised’ object. Afghanistan and Cambodia are specifically
examined as arenas of bio-power. 1 use George Gittoes’ paintings as trajectories
for exploring the tie between body and land in both geographical contexts.
Suffering, horror, excess, ambiguity, and hope pervade the works of
contemporary Australian artist George Gittoes. Flis symbolic interplay of these
various themes within his artistic compositions encapsulate the Chimeric nature
of modernity. Elaborating on Foucault’s concept of ‘bio-power’, I critically
explore “human violation” via Gittoes’ artistic series of paintings and drawings
entitled ‘Minefields’.'
The works which I have chosen to analyse are indicative of Gittoes’
treatment of the human body as a site for exploring human rights abuse and the
excesses of modernity. ‘Minefields’ addresses the human and environmental
consequences of landmines, by enabling the victims of landmines to narrate their
own experiences; in this series censureship is denied: the various images
disclo