The ASAsin Manifesto is the outline of a politics of
identity. It is a personal reflection on the current
state of affairs in the US and in the world.
Over the past years, our ability to think critically
has been repeatedly put to the test. In the aftermath
of violent strikes on the World Trade Center and Pentagon,
the world is experiencing the onset of a new era of
permanent war against real and invented enemies of the
American Empire. The media has bombarded us with propaganda
and manipulated the emotions of the people, causing
more hatred and perpetuating violence.
I feel this is the moment to develop a new geopolitical
aesthetic of opposition. This is a difficult enterprise:
many of the most recognizable icons of dissent –
Ghandi, Mandela, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Che
– have been incorporated by an establishment that
only honors rebels when they are dead or no longer a
threat. The images in my work are by contrast unfamiliar,
even perhaps disturbing. My work draws on my life as
a refugee. My politics are personal and this is my story.
