Between the Lines. The title recalls the artist's interest in language, which is adapted and appropriated into his own visual lexicon. Arabic verses from the Qur'an become decorative elements of videos and installations, as they once used to decorate armour and talismans.
Between the lines is mounir fatmi's second solo show at Galerie Hussenot, continuing
the artist's ongoing investigation of the modern world. In diverse works, he
constructs visual spaces and linguistic games that aim to free the viewer from
preconceptions of politics and religion, allowing space for contemplation of how we
think and who we are.
A metaphor for a way of thinking, Between the Lines breaks down categories. Despite
the monochrome nature of the exhibition, the message is far from black and white. It
is the shades of grey that interest mounir fatmi: multiple interpretations of words,
questioning the status quo instead of accepting universal truths, reading between
the lines. The title recalls the artist's interest in language, which is adapted and
appropriated into his own visual lexicon. Arabic verses from the Qur'an become
decorative elements of videos and installations, as they once used to decorate
armour and talismans. But instead of presenting these texts as religious doctrine,
mounir fatmi absorbs them into less concrete and more complex configurations.
Modern times, a history of the machine, a largescale video installation of a
machine, dominates the gallery walls. The title of the piece is inspired by Modern
Times, Charlie Chaplin's celebrated 1936 film, which comments obliquely on the
alienation of man in a modern industrialised society, with Chaplin playing a lowly
worker on a factory production line. In fatmi's machine circular verses from the
Qur'an form the clattering cogs. The words are reanimated as circular abstract
forms. Taken out of context the circles and continuous motion offer a way of
escaping a fixed way of thinking. The dizzying effect of the installation draws on
the legacy of Marcel Duchamp and his Rotoreliefs. Duchamp's spinning circular
optical illusions were amongst the first manifestations of kinetic art, produced in
the context of a fast-industrializing society, a phenomenon which is repeating
itself today in developing countries all over the world. The movement of the machine
reflects the artist's
desire to make people's heads spin. The danger of complacent acceptance of the
machine is averted by the disconcerting soundtrack, ear-piercing when it starts up,
as if to remind the viewer to stay on their guard: the machine is not perfect. Like
Chaplin's character, whose slapstick encounter with the factory machine suggests the
human obstacle to a perfectly streamlined production mounir fatmi explains: "I want
to be the product that the machine fails, otherwise one would think that the machine
is perfect".
The video Mixology uses similar circular verses, printed on to the surface of vinyl
being mixed by a DJ. As the vinyl spins the record-player's needle peels away at the
paint between the grooves, creating a new sound. The clash between music and text is
brutal – representing cultural difference and also the age-old archrivals: pleasure
and religion. This violent contrast is perfectly intentional, as mounir fatmi
explains "the first meeting between cultures can only be violent". Despite
increasing talk of a globalisation, the tensions between different cultures and the
improbability of attaining a modern global culture are themes that recur throughout
the artist's oeuvre.
Modern times, a history of the machine provides a backdrop for the installation Mehr
Licht, which consists of a group of photocopiers placed around the gallery floor,
with Neon lights in the place of documents to be copied. The installation is an
absurd gesture. How can you capture the image of a neon light? Although a critical
instrument in image making, light has no image. Like the machine that produces
nothing, the photocopiers are redundant in their task of copying. Goethe's last
words "Mehr licht!" (More light!) are interpreted as a plea to see the world in an
enlightened way. As with Modern Times, Mehr Licht calls for rational thought: words
should never be taken as dogma and images must always be questioned.
Galerie Hussenot
5 bis, rue des Haudriettes - Paris