SELECTED WRITING
IN CONVERSATION WITH ZAZOU RODDAM
The Metropolis in Fabulous Flux: Nostalgia, Anxiety, and the Phantasmagoria of Change
Pop Inflection (The City) considers time, space, and societal shifts through an exploration of the urban landscape. A Sex and The City phantasmagoric supercut (only featuring the B-roll) omits the well-loved cast and shows the iconic, glittering Manhattan skyline against a fast-beat soundtrack. Yes, it’s nostalgic, but tensions become increasingly palpable as the perspective tightens and scenes are made claustrophobic. The chronological sequence spans snippets from the series from 1998 to 2004 and transits across the turn of the millennia. We witness the making of modernity through the evolving portrait of the urban metropolis and its sprawling skylines.
IN CONVERSATION
Sugar-Coated Realities: An Interview With the Artists of ‘Saccharine Symbols’
Elephant speaks to Shamiran Istifan, Marisa Kriangwiwat Holmes and Tasneem Sarkez: the artists exhibited in Rose Easton’s current show ‘Saccharine Symbols’. A sugary display of roses, cupids and rabbits betray their cloying exterior symbolising socio-political narratives and personal histories. The aftertaste is anything but sweet.
TS: There’s a sense of ‘pastness’ imposed on many marginalised identities, where existence is constrained by historical labels. Arab culture, in particular, is often seen as a singular identity, limited by Western characterizations in the media. To modernise an archive, you have to consider ideas of futurity, thinking about the tense of its existence in its most present form. The concept of your future isn’t granted by the external world and its perceptions, when your identity is in opposition to the status quo. So I ask myself to actualize the future of my identity in the work that I make, by making work I want to see in the world right now – to then place myself in it. The archive, in my view, is an active process of registering what you observe in your environment. For instance, the cars depicted in my paintings are inspired by those I encounter in everyday life. The use of ‘Good Morning’ in this painting is drawn from the WhatsApp memes my family sends me. It’s about being attuned to how you perceive your identity in the everyday while understanding its history. Collecting an archive requires an acknowledgment of its historical precedence, creating an active relationship with elements from both the past and present to construct how you want others to perceive you.
Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, REVIEW
Who is Stephanie Comilang? The Artist Exploring Labour and Transition in a Globalised World
Stephanie Comilang, a Filipino-Canadian artist and filmmaker based between Toronto and Berlin, deftly weaves together stories, histories, and memories in her latest exhibition, “Search for Life,” presented by TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary and curated by Chus Martínez. This show marks the artists’ debut solo exhibition in Spain. In her work, Comilang navigates time, space, and technology, envisioning a future shaped by interconnectedness and innovation, delving into the complexities of displacement, transition, and labour in a globalised world.
REVIEW
Arlette’s José at Rose Easton: A Church In Which to Reflect Upon the Personal, Temporal and Sacred
José is a sacred space in which to meditate upon ideas at the root of contemporary society: hyper-masculinity, identity, faith, consumerism, and the commodity. Arlette delves into the social imaginary through the lens of hyper-masculinity, with brief, shielded glimpses into her personal cosmology, inspiring awe and introspection. Sanctifying her memories, she frees them and cleanses them of any traces of impurity within her self-created holy space, the church of Arlette.