Place/date of birth: Rotterdam, 1982

Field of activity: The Netherlands, internet

Homepage: www.raouldelange.nl

MUGSHOTS, installation (mixed media, 2011):

“In my graduation project I used images taken of people who were injured or killed during the protests that are now known as the ‘Arab spring’ and I put these images back into our own society. In Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Egypt and Libya thousands of people have been protesting against their regimes and these revolts were beaten down violently. In Syria alone it is estimated that over 1300 people have been killed. We do not get to see the most horrific images of these events. The conventional media filter the news for us. They know our likes and dislikes and withhold images they think might upset us. The result is that we’ve ended up living in a society in which we as individuals or as a community have removed ourselves from everything we consider to be uncomfortable, a bit like living in an invisible cocoon. In the Mug Shots project I’m trying to work around this self-censorship by making the victims of the ‘Arab spring’ part of our daily lives in a less confronting manner. They accompany us in the shape of abstract, colorful patterns on coffee mugs, cushions, t-shirts, wine bottles and posters. Being faced with images we consider to be uncomfortable influences our opinion. A clear example of this is how the journalistic reports on the Vietnam War changed public opinion and eventually the course of that war. By removing ourselves from the things we would rather not see, we also close off the possibility to take a moral stand. Indignation about what is happening in the world around us works as a catalyst that motivates the movement towards improvement and change. I think a good start would be to give ourselves the opportunity to face what is happening around us without filtering. Yes, be upset, but not because you are faced with something that takes you out of your comfort zone. Be upset because you feel the images before you concern a situation that is intolerable.”