The Sphere, the Flesh and the Machine
Shown at Gyldenpris Kunsthall January 2022 with works by Mekdes W Shebeta.
The mood of the installation is uneasy and restless, constantly moving. In a dark low-lit space, the installation operates in the logic of a dream with a cacophony of shifting images and lights moving in the darkness.
Two machines turn video projectors around the space. The machine cogs are made of plywood and warp and shift with the humidity in the exhibition space. This has added an element of spontaneity and frustration as the cogs connect and disconnect from one another. The sound of the wooden cogs clattering together is a constant accompaniment to the work, intensified in the moments that more of the cogs connect and turn. This imperfect motion is a happy accident fitting to the themes of the work; silencing, censoring women and societal disfunction or the weaponization of nostalgia.
Also shown here, an early sketch of the work from April 2015 developed at Townhouse Gallery, Cairo.
The machine was in continuous motion. 4 Large wooden cogs 35cm diameter. 160 photographs on 2 slide projectors shone images of the earth seen from space at night and images from the launch of the first chimpanzee in space, terrified being sent to his death. A voiceless victim, the propaganda surrounding his fate describes him as a hero sacrificing for his country. His image and body controlled and politicized.