A framed drawing, approximately 36 inches wide and 24 inches tall, is mounted on the wall. In front of the drawing on the floor is a white bench. Next to the bench is a floor fan blowing air on the drawing. Attached to the bench is a small muslin bag. Within the bag there are white gloves that feel heated from within the bench. The drawing is an abstract depiction of the scene of the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Iraq. The drawing is done on vellum with black ink and has a somewhat dreamlike quality. The drawing is framed in such a way that it is almost completely covered with plexiglass, with the exception of one small square approximately 4 inches wide and 3 inches tall. In this square, one sees the central element of the drawing, the statue itself being toppled next to a crowd of people. When one puts the gloves on and touches this part of the drawing, the ink changes, revealing and concealing different elements of the drawing.

From the artist:

04092003 (Unrevolution) captures the iconic moment when the statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled in Firdos Square, Iraq, 22 days after the invasion by the Bush and Blair administrations. By layering two shots of the same event – one close-up and the other wide-angled – Xin questions the reliability of photography and its portrayal of revolution.

In a city of 5.6 million residents, only 200 people attended the event. Upon closer inspection, Most of the crowd consisted of US soldiers and Western journalists waiting around to capture breaking news. The close-up image, which became an overnight media sensation, contrasts with the wide-shot image, which degraded over time due to the lack of Internet circulation and preservation, bringing forth the loss of historical truth over time.

By faithfully tracing the low-resolution, wide-angled photo, the artist grapples with missing information and the normalization of imperial agendas. Using thermochromic ink that disappears and reappears upon touch, Xin challenges our understanding of history by pointing at the gap between photography and embodied knowledge.