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large artwork
Left Panel Centre Panel Right Panel

About the Work

I travelled to Israel to make these works immediately before the outbreak of the Gulf War. There was an ever-present danger of poison gas attack. The atmosphere was very tense. Naturally, there were no tourists.
Left Panel: Manger Square in Bethlehem. It was very difficult to obtain permission to photograph from the roof of the Town Hall. From this view, I photographed Israeli soldiers on roof-tops as a man leads a donkey across the square.

Centre Panel: the Ascension Chapel, high above the Mount of Olives. It was built in the 4th century. From this spot Christ is supposed to have ascended to Heaven. When I visited, it was surrounded by wasteland. Some Palestinian children told me these were the remains of houses bull-dozed by the Israelis. I photographed the detritus, which included a coke can, a plastic bag and a rubber bullet.

Right Panel: the Palestinian bus station in east Jerusalem. The 19th century British general Gordon, believed this to be the real site of the Crucifixion - Golgotha, The Place of the Skull. A large skull shape can be seen in the rocks overlooking the site.

″I still use the same approach to my work: I get an idea, think of the title and then make the work. So not much has changed since 1964″

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