On 21 January 1986, a car bomb exploded in the Furn Ech Chubak district of Beirut, one of many that were to shake Beirut at regular intervals during the years of the 1975-1991 Lebanese civil war. My Neck is Thinner Than a Hair is part of an on-going investigation by The Atlas Group into the events and experiences surrounding the use of car bombs in the Lebanese wars. The Atlas Group examines the multiple dimensions—social, political, economic, military, technological, psychological and epistemic—of the wars and investigates the public and private discourses surrounding the 3,600 car bombs that were detonated during this period.

For the past year, artists Tony Chakar, Bilal Khbeiz, and Walid Raad have been working on the first volume of this multi-volume project. This research will result in a 70-minute mixed media presentation/performance about and around the events, experiences, forms, and objects of the car bomb that was detonated in the Furn Ech Chubak area. Walid Raad is the 2004-2005 Vera List Center Fellow.

Participant
Walid Raad, artist

This project is co-produced by The Atlas Group (Beirut / New York), Ashkal Alwan (Beirut), Kunsten Festival des Arts (Brussels), Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), Spectacles Vivants, Centre Pompidou (Paris), and the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School.