Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, November 2007, pages 54-55
Music and Arts
Rajie Cook Honors Rachel Corrie
INTERNATIONALLY KNOWN graphic designer, photographer and artist Rajie Cook has finished a new kinetic box he calls, “Stop!, A-Tzor’!, Waqiff”—translating “Stop” in English, Hebrew and Arabic. A red stop light blinks on and off when viewers stand in front of the piece, and stops blinking after they walk away.
Many of the “boxes” or sculptural assemblages created over the years by this Palestinian-American artist express his deeply felt concern for human rights and for the tragic conditions in the Middle East (see Jan./Feb. 2004 Washington Report on Middle East Affairs,, pp. 50-51). Cook shared some of his sorrow with Peter Applebom in a 2004 article inThe New York Times: “I remember my dad—he died at the age of 94—old and blind and sitting by the radio saying he was waiting to hear something good on the radio about peace in the Middle East. I’m 74 and I don’t know if I’ll ever hear it, either. I don’t want to die at 94 still waiting for peace.”
The tragic death of 23-year-old peace activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed on March 16, 2003 when she was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer on the Gaza Strip, inspired a series of boxes.
Cook found a very old cast iron wall air vent unit at a flea market and built a box around it. Attaching a handle to it to act as a lever, he glued Rachel Corrie’s picture to the louvers so that an observer can see her picture when the louvers are in the closed position. When the handle is moved to the right, the louvers open to expose the photo of the bulldozer and Rachel. Because the entire louver unit is made of heavy cast iron, the sound created by moving the lever from left to right and back again sounds very much like it could be coming from the bulldozer.
To view more of Rajie Cook’s work, or for information about upcoming exhibits, visit his Web site: <www.rajie.org>.
—Delinda C. Hanley
