Using cutting blades of the type commonly available for sale, Ibrahim
Abumsmar created Cutting Edge in
2012. Arranged one next to another, with the diagonal cutting edge turned
upward, the blades are driven into a base about one meter high, with the result
that the piece as a whole asserts itself in the space as a threatening,
potentially lethal presence. The artist has stated that the work is a direct
reference to the wall Israel has constructed in the West Bank, beginning in
2000. Also known as a “security fence,” a “barrier of Israeli separation,” and,
for Palestinians, a “wall of racial separation,” the barrier is made of
barricades, barbed-wire enclosures, electronic doors and reinforced-concrete
walls, eight meters tall. It follows a winding path that partially coincides
with the Green Line and in portions extends into the occupied Palestinian
territories, for a length of almost 700 kilometers. The subject of serious
controversy, the wall has been justified by Israel as a defence against violent
terrorist attacks of Palestinian origin. [...]
