On the Intersection of Fulfilment and Happiness Street
A collaboration with Shuruq Harb and Noura Salem
Performance in downtown Amman, Jordan
Two screen video installation
2015
Performance in downtown Amman, Jordan
Two screen video installation
2015
Exhibited at In the Margin
National Gallery of Fine Arts
Amman, Jordan
This collaborative research project between artists and architects sets out to consider the politics of public space through the construction of a social intervention. During a series of group discussions, we examined similarities and differences between male and female behaviour, which pinpointed our focus to the act of loitering. We observed and documented people in downtown Amman as a starting point for setting up a social intervention of 6 women loitering for one and a half hours on a busy city square. The intervention was recorded from birds-eye view with a hidden camera from a building overlooking the square as well as a camera positioned on the ground to capture passerby reactions.
To view this subtle deviation within the everyday the viewer has the option to sit down in a gallery installation configuration which mimics the geometry of the real city square. From there, he or she can observe the two-channel video from shifting perspectives: a voyeristic, an antagonistic and a compassionate mindset. Depending on the direction in which one chooses to sit, the viewer engages either with the videos or a large scale photograph hanging opposite to the moving image, all encompassed by the dissonant soundscape of downtown Amman. With this art work we would like to invite the viewer to reflect upon his or her position, gendered distinctions within the public realm and prevalent class and gender privileges within our society. |