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"+ and -"에 해당하는 글 1건

2006/09/09 + and -, Mona Hatoum

+ and -, Mona Hatoum

I visited the exhibition, ‘Out of Time: A Contemporary View’, at the MoMA last Friday. I could see different views and approaches to the time of artists. However, the most impressive artwork was Mona Hatoum’s ‘+ and -.’

The first time I heard of this installation was last year when I looked through the reference book of the 51st Venice Biennial (2005). At that time, I couldn’t even see the video clip, and so I imagined and felt the movement of the piece. My curiosity was piqued as I wondered how fast the rake would be and what sounds I could hear.

Hatoum used an electric motor, sand, and aluminum instead of conventional artist’ tools, such as paint and canvas. The turning rake makes and erases marks on sand at a rate of five rotations per minute, a speed suitable for meditation while following the rake. Hatoum must have experimented with this installation many times in order to perfect it because there is no trace of sand outside. I also felt the smell of a beach, reminding me of a memory of a quiet shore where I sit still and see the waves and change of the sand.

So many things of the previous year will be clearly erased from my memory. Also, I will do the same mistakes I did in former times. It may be a figure of ourselves, who live in an unstopped space-time.