In this issue, we go back to basics and review definitions of frequently (or infrequently) words in the art world while referencing art from the MENASA region. IN THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES, YOU’LL DISCOVER AN ALPHABETICAL LIST OF ART-RELATED WORDS PAIRED WITH ARTWORKS THAT BEST ILLUSTRATE EACH WORD’S MEANING. ALL WORKS ARE BY MIDDLE EASTERN ARTISTS WHO HAVE LEFT AN INDELIBLE IMPRINT UPON THE INTERNATIONAL ART SCENE.
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JUXTAPOSITION
Juxtaposition refers to placing seemingly different objects or concepts side-by-side. In its most common iteration, juxtaposition is used to contrast seemingly different things or ideas.
In an iconic project by contemporary artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan, the artist examined noise pollution so pervasive in daily life in Cairo. In a video installation entitled The All-Hearing (2014), the artist looks at how what he defines as “loud libertarianism,” the issue of hearing damage paradoxically delivered by two Cairene sheikhs. The work masterfully examines how new laws give the military government the ability to monotonise the delivery of sermons by enforcing sheikhs to only give speeches according to the weekly government-sanctioned topics. Despite this, the flow of voices creates a form of noise pollution that makes the delivery of such speakers nearly inaudible.
A VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN PRINT IN SELECTIONS, ART GLOSSARY #52 PAGE 92.