a/political Presents New Public Art Projection from Andrei Molodkin with Robin Bell

Controversial Russian-born artist Andrei Molodkin collaborates with D.C.-based multimedia artist Robin Bell to present Molodkin's latest work, "White House Filled with the Blood of U.S. Citizens."

For the original artwork, real blood donated by American citizens pours through a clear acrylic sculpture of the White House. In Washington, D.C. a video representation was projected onto the exterior of the Trump Hotel in the week between the insurrection at the Capitol and the 2021 Presidential Inauguration.

Bell and Molodkin have identified the Trump Hotel as a pseudo-White House for the current administration - exemplifying the inextricable link between politics, money, personal power and ego.

Events over the past few weeks, specifically the attempted coup on January 6th and record death toll from COVID-19, have driven home the fact that people are both willing to die for their government, and are unwittingly sacrificed due to their government's inactions. The artwork was produced in October 2019 as a forewarning of events to come and has lived up to its intentions in the current context. The American Democratic experiment requires informed participation and collective respect from both its civilians and elected officials, or we run the risk of devolving into senseless violence.

"The use of human blood is required to interrogate the existing political system," said artist Andrei Molodkin. "The White House is the symbolic heart of 'Western' democracy, and here we see it as it is, fueled by the blood of its citizens."

Molodkin is an internationally acclaimed conceptual artist, representing his country at the Venice Biennale in 2009. He has been working with the materials of blood and oil since leaving the army in Soviet Russia, treating these liquid materials as currency to make visible the physical cost of war and genocide.

"In the wake of insurrection, we've heard sentiments expressing that these actions don't reflect America," said artist Robin Bell. "Yet, our country has systematically upheld white supremacy. This artwork demands that folks challenge the inherent inequality and collectively work towards a just future."

Robin Bell, founder of Bell Visuals, is an award-winning editor, video journalist, and multimedia artist based in Washington DC. He is well known for his guerilla-style projections of videos featuring political and social messages. Robin's commitment to social change through the dissemination of information via video, sound and image is present throughout his artistic career.

The work is made possible by a partnership between a/political and CulturalDC.

a/political explores radical knowledge through the principle of Cultural Terror, platforming voices that undermine the dominant narratives of our time. The collective collaborates with artists and agitators to produce projects previously thought unrealisable due to their subject matter, scale and complexity. www.a-political.org.

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