Artwork Statement
Extra Cheese is a set of photographs of an installation representing the artist’s observations concerning the geopolitical and ethical issues brought up by “The Deal of The Century,” a policy devised by The Trump Administration to achieve ultimate peace between Israel and Palestine. This refers to a solution that was proposed after Israel has pushed for the annexation of the West Bank–which was partially occupied by Jewish settlements on land historically (and hypothetically) belonging to the Palestinian state for the past three decades–which directly defied International Laws that prohibit the transfer of civilian populations into military occupied territories.
Despite describing it as a “peace plan,” the U.S. has heavily favored Israel over Palestine, escalating the conflict between the two countries. This simultaneously defies UN Resolution 242, which emphasized the inadmissibility of the acquisitions of territory by war, and another UN Security Council Resolution that pushed for the withdrawal of diplomatic missions from Jerusalem as a protest measure for Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem.
By presenting the shadow of a double cheeseburger from McDonald’s in a manner that resembles the Star of David from the Israeli flag, the artwork symbolizes the underlying reasons for conflicts and geopolitics as a fundamental basic necessity: food. The added cheese slices on the burger turns the need into a want. By dissolving basic needs and wants into mere desires, Extra Cheese challenges the Western monarch’s obstructions in geopolitics.