ABSTRACT

This chapter shows how reflection on the geographies of art practices can enlarge the sense in which they can be considered political, and that art practices that are rich in spatiality have particularly powerful political valences. It argues that the compass of critical geopolitical scholarship can usefully be widened to take account of contemporary art practices, particularly those that are addressing the war on terror and contemporary landscapes of security. Green Zone/Red Zone addressed the division or involuntary fragmentation of cities like Baghdad under the pretext of improving security and is particularly interesting, argued, for a number of reasons. Green Zone/Red Zone, an exhibition, showed a series of maps produced by the Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory (FAST), an architectural collective that aims to highlight the divisive consequences of top down architecture and planning. The maps were produced by applying homeland security guidelines to different scenarios, but played out in The Hague itself rather than Baghdad or other non-Western cities.