Jan Tichy has constructed a model of the secret Israeli military base Facility 1391, often referred to as “Israel’s Guantanamo.” On the floor of the gallery is a model of the building. A projector hums overhead, casting a long, eerie shadow of the model’s tower onto an illuminated section of the floor. The paper model is simple and modest, a seemingly harmless artist’s reconstruction. However, the bright white light from the projector, combined with a black curtain sectioning off this one room from the rest of the museum, shows us that Tichy is illuminating a thing normally hidden from view. On the wall, a long black banner showing Tichy’s construction plans for the model and a description of Facility 1391 reveal the various possibilities of representation given the metaphorical black curtain surrounding what happens in the base. (Amy Dittmeier)
Through June 1 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago, (312)397-4010.
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