Khabat Abas
The Bombshell Cello

The Shell Cello (2019) is made from a bombshell, cut and welded into the shape of a conventional Western cello. Bought in the bazaar of Sulaymaniyah in Kurdistan-Iraqi, the shell is transformed from a military object into an art object. The shell cello form had a cultural power and indeed legalized a material that is illegal to import. Through the form of a cello, the shell material has been brought from Kurdistan/Iraq to the UK, which would otherwise have not been possible, which demonstrates how society conforms to the power of the form of cello without asking questions.

This cello outwardly looks like a cello, with all its details of shape, but it does not play like a cello. My practice on this cello is developing and requires special techniques to deal with this new materiality. From this point my relationship with the instrument has been dramatically changed