Ebtisam Abdulaziz
Vision and Illusion. 2005
Video installation
About the work
The video piece showed an optician’s seeing-test light box and also relayed a recurring dialogue between the optician and his patient – a continuous reading aloud of letters in a monotonous tone. The artist explained: "I tried to present this work in a way that would oblige those viewing the piece to walk in the dark through a narrow and almost mysterious corridor leading to a screen on one side of the corridor, something only visible after the visitor makes a certain physical effort. Through the quasi dictatorial nature of my installation, and by leading the viewer along an uncertain path, I tried to imitate the dictatorial manipulation that certain rulers exercise upon their subjects. My art piece was what the viewers were pursuing, and, as the artist, I assumed a position of power, which I chose to abuse by engineering the viewers’ experience with my work. Vision and Illusion is about the uncertainty that exists between people and ruling systems, but also about two people trying to have an exchange. It concerns the hidden meanings in communication and the withholding of information by people and systems in positions of power".
From an article by Mahita ElBacha Urieta, in: Nafas Art Magazine, 2005
© Photo: Haupt & Binder, Universes in Universe
Teil 1 der Fototour durch die Sharjah Biennale 7, 6. April - 6. Juni 2005. Präsidentin & Chef-Direktorin: Hoor Al Qasimi. Kurator: Jack Persekian; Ko-Kuratoren: Ken Lum und Tirdad Zolghadr. 70 Beteiligte.