RPI suspends 'Virtual Jihadi'

The move capped a chain of events -- including claims the FBI was eyeing the artist -- that began last month when the College Republicans blasted the arts department as "a terrorist safe haven."

The work that provoked that attack is Wafaa Bilal's "Virtual Jihadi." It's the latest piece by a Chicago-based video artist who is testing the limits of academic freedom in a time of war at a Troy school that receives millions in Pentagon research funding.

"It feels like a military camp, not an educational institution," Bilal, 41, said Thursday night.

The origin of his work is a video game called "Quest for Saddam." The game, where players target the ex-Iraqi leader, prompted what RPI's Web site describes as an al-Qaida spin-off called "The Night of Bush Capturing."

Bilal hacked into that game and created a work that puts "his own more nuanced spin on this epic conflict," according to the arts department. In Bilal's version, unveiled at RPI Wednesday, the Iraqi-born artist casts himself as a suicide bomber who gets sent on a mission to assassinate President Bush.

You can kill the President in his game, Bilal said.

Bilal said his brother was killed in the conflict. His exhibit's stated intention is to highlight vulnerability to recruitment by groups like al-Qaida "because of the U.S.'s failed strategy in securing Iraq." It also criticizes "racist generalizations and stereotypes as exhibited in games such as 'Quest for Saddam."'

The College Republicans excoriated RPI for sponsoring the exhibit and encouraged alumni to speak against it. At least one graduate, Christopher Lozaga, voiced his disturbance in an e-mail to RPI President Shirley Ann Jackson.

"So long as RPI sponsors these kinds of events, giving absolutely no consideration to military alumnus, friends and family of the university, I will not contribute a dime to the school," Lozaga wrote.

The controversy intensified Wednesday, when Bilal was scheduled to give a lecture and unveil his exhibit.

That afternoon, RPI students in a class taught by media arts professor Branda Miller were interviewing Bilal when he was pulled out of the room by RPI officials.

"It was very unsettling for me and my students," Miller said. "It would be unfortunate if Wafaa Bilal's art exhibition remains closed. The whole point of art is to encourage dialogue."

The artist claimed that RPI officials, at Jackson's behest, questioned him about the game. He said they also told him that federal agencies, including the FBI, planned to attend his event.

RPI spokesman Jason Gorss would not comment on that claim, and Bilal said he was not questioned by law enforcement officials. Paul Holstein, chief counsel for the FBI's Albany division, could not say whether any agents attended Bilal's lecture.