Shannon Benine

The Regular, 2006—2009

In the winter of 2006, the U.S. Air Force deployed Casey, a close friend and relative, to Ballad, Iraq. In order to confront my own stereotypes and push myself to see beyond the simplistic representations that saturate our culture we undertook a collaborative project, incorporating his sound recordings, photographs and perceptions into my art work. Through photography, video, and sound, I created several multimedia installations that addressed his departure, deployment and homecoming. “The Regular” is a long-term project that began in 2005, resulting in the creation of the installations “Means Without End,” 2008-2009, “Waiting Room,” 2006, and “Roadside,” 2006 which explore the politics of mediation and the private domestic life of people caught in the geographies of war.