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Popular Culture Review
stepped on a land mine. He became blind as a result of the accident. Rather than
be a burden on his family, Sot Chit decided to live by himself. His friends built a
hut for him behind some shops. Gittoes says that Som Chit would like to learn
Braille; however, the nearest Braille learning centre is in Bangkok. In reflecting
upon Som Chit, Gittoes says: “As I stepped away from this little hut I realised
how far the dark tentacles of Pol Pot’s year zero insanities had reached. 1 looked
back at Som Chit suspended above the dark pond water, the BLIND FIELD.”'’'
Concluding Remarks
While Gittoes’ ‘Minefields’ series is intended to disturb, it also
reaffirms the global nature of land mines as a form of bio-power. What emerges
from these images is a concern for responding to corporeal violation. Each
image is a social commentary which ties individual to nation. As the body is
both a biological and social product, it is tied to the land and to the nation. It is
on this point that Ignatieff asks us whether a nation can make its citizens ill, and
is a nation’s psyche tied to the psyche of its citizens.^" Foucault suggested that
“technologies in the domination of self’ are techniques which not only attempt
to inform the conduct of people, but also shapes relations between self and
others and between self and land (nation).'^^ A significant feature of Gittoe’s art
points at modem technology’s ability to fragment self For Afghanistan and
Cambodia, landmines epitomise the excesses of modem regimes and their
capacity to emasculate self and land.
Christian University of Thailand
Arthur Saniotis
Notes
' I express my gratitude to Mr. George Gittoes for giving me permission to use his works
from his 'Minefields’ exhibition for this article.
‘ Athena Athanasiou, Technologies of Hu X[