)U(, 2018
All images from Dakar Biennale 2018. All rights reserved
)U( is a piece about self-liberation through self-awareness and presence. Its intention is to create an “anti-panopticon” or a “heterotopia”, by reference to French philosopher Michel Foucault.
Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu (A human is a human through other humans) - Zulu proverb
Je est un autre (I is another) - Arthur Rimbaud
It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others. - W.E.B. DuBois
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Thirty-two video cameras film the whole space of the installation, displayed on four monumental projections and eight screens scattered in the installation, allowing the visitors to see themselves and the other visitors from every angle and distance.
Mirrors are disposed in the installation space, allowing for the infinite multiplication of the visitors’ images.
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Farsights neon pieces switched on by rhythmically set timers illuminate the installation in three colors, black, red and white, transforming its atmosphere, emulating day, night, dusk and dawn.
Other in situ neon compositions outlining the exhibition space are switched on by movement detectors.
The soundtrack of the installation mixes cinematic atmospheres, natural sounds and abstract textures.
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The Reflections mirror paintings and their “koans” trigger self-awareness, whereas the Farsights neon pieces based on Fa’s odu or symbols (Fa or Ifa is a West African philosophy and geomancy) allude to the spiritual self’s freedom: Fa’s essential message is that a humans are not predestined, but forge their own destiny in harmony with spiritual energies.
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Finally, the Future ancestors series statues (inspired by Egungun ceremonies from Benin and Nigeria) allude to the the finitude of the «I», reminders of both history and the human condition: each and every human is a «future ancestor», but totally alive in the present moment.
