Ziad Antar and Lamia Joreige

Video screening and conversation with Ziad Antar and Lamia Joreige

In the context of the solo exhibition Jean-Luc moulène – works, a conversation between Ziad Antar and Lamia Joreige is taking place in the auditorium. The starting point of the discussion is Soleil Noir, a video work produced by Jean-Luc moulène and edited by Ziad Antar. The conversation then evolves to screening some of his videos and exploring his practice in broader terms.

The Turkish March (b&w video, 2’40”, 2006) it is three-minute experimental video, composed of one sequence video shot where we see the hands of a pianist playing the Turkish march of Mozart. We don’t hear the music as the strings of the piano are pulled out; we hear only the sound of the fingers touching the piano, making a percussion that plays the Turkish march.

Mdardara (8mm film, 3′, 2006) as an extension to his work on the daily and the domestic space, and on the border between an artist’s video and a (how-to) video, the artist produces what looks like a mdardara recipe (middle eastern lentils and rice dish). Shot on super 8 with available light, this short video presents us almost with an illustrated diagram of great simplicity.

Safe sound (video/col./sound, 9’, 2006) this video consists of several sequences shot during the first days of the July 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon. Several events are filmed at home showing boredom, the airstrike, and simple daily life actions under war situation. As the siege took hold and the assault unrelented, the routine of everyday life was suspended and time stood still. When one is not immediately exposed to danger, survival became about coping with the sense captivity, passing time.

La Souris (video/col./sound, 2’, 2006) in Ziad Antar’s la Souris (2009) a toy mouse is wound up by the artist and directed at a real mousetrap over and over again. The scene is a simple empty stage where the mouse is the only performer.