number and lifetime
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I worked on a series of documentary photographs of people I didn't know and others who were my personal friends. I allowed myself through this work, to present an unpretentious depiction of their temporal and internal expression in an attempt to underscore the degree of realism and integrity in archiving and identifying numbers with the visual elements of the picture.
These numbers expressed the physiology and mentality of the human being through capturing the relationship between the body and time. Life is the energy we possess from birth, but our individual nature is what decides how this energy is put to use. The effects of everyday life on every cell in the human body can be seen in this work 'Number and Lifetime'.
The work has been associated with Body Art because it forces the viewer to physically interact instead of passively observe. It alerts the viewer that he has been neglecting a certain part of his body, a part that is longing to remind him of some childhood memory. It sends out many signals such as life and death, and the realization of death leads to enigmatic feelings concerning time.
The viewer is also driven to search for that which is outside the picture. What is presented is merely a number and a body part, a hand. The viewer searches for the person whom that hand belongs to. Who is it? What does he or she look like?
Only the artist knows the answers to these questions. During the photo shoots I met many people of different nationalities, ages, characters, colors and morphologies. Some might be alike in number, but they are all different in how they live their lives, in their goals, and in their nature. This was clear during the photo sessions- manifesting in their hesitations and the straightforwardness of their inquiries. I therefore undertook that this work be an autobiography of the people I met. Yet many things were lost: the physical contact with the people; the sensations of softness or coarseness, of heat and cold; the sounds of conversation and laughter; the effects of the atmosphere; the feelings of joy and sadness... all these are invisible to the viewer.
The hand symbolizes many things. A well-proportioned hand indicates an overall balance in character, while a large hand indicates intelligence. The feel of a hand also reveals things: a soft hand indicates a rich and easy life, while a coarse hand belongs to one who toils endlessly and perhaps enjoys the arduous things in life. The lines and marks on fingers and palms also have a story to
These numbers expressed the physiology and mentality of the human being through capturing the relationship between the body and time. Life is the energy we possess from birth, but our individual nature is what decides how this energy is put to use. The effects of everyday life on every cell in the human body can be seen in this work 'Number and Lifetime'.
The work has been associated with Body Art because it forces the viewer to physically interact instead of passively observe. It alerts the viewer that he has been neglecting a certain part of his body, a part that is longing to remind him of some childhood memory. It sends out many signals such as life and death, and the realization of death leads to enigmatic feelings concerning time.
The viewer is also driven to search for that which is outside the picture. What is presented is merely a number and a body part, a hand. The viewer searches for the person whom that hand belongs to. Who is it? What does he or she look like?
Only the artist knows the answers to these questions. During the photo shoots I met many people of different nationalities, ages, characters, colors and morphologies. Some might be alike in number, but they are all different in how they live their lives, in their goals, and in their nature. This was clear during the photo sessions- manifesting in their hesitations and the straightforwardness of their inquiries. I therefore undertook that this work be an autobiography of the people I met. Yet many things were lost: the physical contact with the people; the sensations of softness or coarseness, of heat and cold; the sounds of conversation and laughter; the effects of the atmosphere; the feelings of joy and sadness... all these are invisible to the viewer.
The hand symbolizes many things. A well-proportioned hand indicates an overall balance in character, while a large hand indicates intelligence. The feel of a hand also reveals things: a soft hand indicates a rich and easy life, while a coarse hand belongs to one who toils endlessly and perhaps enjoys the arduous things in life. The lines and marks on fingers and palms also have a story to
tell. They accurately portray the signs of old age- all the residue of a lifetime. Fingers with thin fine lines indicate a person who loves orderliness, while soft fingers usually belong to one who is lazy. Nails with white spots suggest a frail physique and a testy mood, while red and pink spots imply demureness... other pointed shapes betray a vicious and tough nature. This work is a demonstration of the effects of time on human nature.
The first part of the work is composed of two large photographs hung on the wall. Each is a photo of a different hand that carries a different meaning, nationality, date of birth, lifestyle, and profession. The second part is an installation bearing the shape of a suspended shelf upon which lies an alphabetized archive of 27 files containing almost 2000 photographs and information on the people whose arms were photographed and who were interviewed by the artist. The personal information contained includes the name, age, nationality, and profession, and the files have been arranged alphabetically from A to Z. This archived collection was produced a month prior to the opening of the Seventh Sharjah Biennial and the process continued during the opening ceremony. The environment where this work was produced, that of the United Arab Emirates, lead to the repetition of certain letters and the omission of others, because the country contains people of many different nationalities (Arab, Asian, and Western) cultures, traditions, religions, backgrounds, social status, professions, age groups and of varying levels of disability. This led me to believe that this work would be different from one country to the other: if this work were done in Japan or China or any Western country, the archiving process would probably betray the nature of the people of that particular country. In the UAE, the work plan targeted subordinate groups subject to the authority of the corporation or any other authority depending on the nature of the dominated group such as those in schools, universities, labourers, and factories. That included the middleclass and other subordinate groups in society.
The third part of the work, which imparted a perpetual aura to the work, is the photo studio. I set it up in the area dedicated to the work and played photographer, taking photos of visitors' hands to complete the archiving process so they could be part of the work and take a part of it with them as well. The photo is different from other photos that are usually personal photos of faces not hands, and gives this work its unique feel.
The third part of the work, which imparted a perpetual aura to the work, is the photo studio. I set it up in the area dedicated to the work and played photographer, taking photos of visitors' hands to complete the archiving process so they could be part of the work and take a part of it with them as well. The photo is different from other photos that are usually personal photos of faces not hands, and gives this work its unique feel.