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EXHIBITIONS > LEBANON NOW |
LEBANON NOW
New Media Art Exhibition
From 21 to 30 June 2008
Between 11 am and 7 pm (except Sundays)
Opening : Friday 20 June at 6 pm
LAA Gallery
Al Wagf Addurzi Bldg. 2nd floor
Verdun Street. Beirut
Artists:
Jean-Louis Eddé and Hayla Saab Demelero
Charbel Haber and Yara Raffoul
Mansour El-Habre
Rabih Khalil
Ricardo Mbarkho
Nadia Oufrid
Shawki Youssef |
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Introduction by Chaouki Chamoun, President of the LAAPS
The Association of Lebanese Artists presents « Lebanon Now », the art exhibition of the new media. Sponsored by USAID, this exhibition is the first of its kind in Lebanon; works realized with the latest technological means meditate about Lebanon today, which is more disconcerting and intriguing than ever. The artists experiment with the binary code and look at Information and Communication Technology from a new perspective. There is no doubt that the sociocultural and the sociopolitical are featured. The artists « tell » their Lebanon through the elements of their numerical world, i.e. images, sound, and words. This event transposes the observer (turned into user) into a new aesthetic experiment. It is the long-awaited occasion both by the artists and an art (and technology)-loving public to experience together a form of contemporary art involving not only the observer but also an important team of scientists and computer engineers without whom the new media art would simply be inconceivable.
[Click on the file below to see the interview ]
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ARTISTS BIOGRAPHIES AND WORKS
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Jean-Louis Eddé
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Hayla Saab Demelero
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Jean-Louis Eddé and Hayla Saab Demelero
« We Simply Cannot… »
Twelve ways to make a typical biography of Hayla Saab Demelero and Jean-Louis Eddé…
1. Date and place of birth: one of them was born in Spain, and the other in Lebanon. Both were raised in the Christian suburbs during the Lebanese Civil War that used to be the only existing form of living from 1975 till 1990 for the Lebanese people. Both left the country after the July 2006 “summer war”.
2. Family information : it is currently hard to travel as a Bedouin with the whole tribe, and many Lebanese families are in the same situation: here and there, dear globalization, dear earth, if I have a son, can I call him “Skype”?
3. Lifetime achievements: "Beir Bteria", mountain second discovery, 1996.
4. Major events of life: every musical minute when he sings and looks at her, every musical minute when she sings and looks at him; and when they fight too.
5. Impact on society: Art as a savior? It has the same impact as a look, a smile, or a hand shake. Now it’s up to you to decide the extent of its strength.
6. What makes this person special or interesting? To him, nothing. To her, being with him.
7. What kind of effect did he or she have on the world? On other people? We will know the answer after this exhibition, just like we we did after every art event that took place in Lebanon in the last 18 years.
8. What are the adjectives you would most use to describe the person? Truthfulness, honesty, frankness, sincerity, integrity, their antonyms and everything in the gray region in between.
9. What examples from their life illustrate those qualities? Their art work.
10. What events shaped or changed this person's life? Life being introduced in both its extremes, and questions like these.
11. Did he or she overcome obstacles? Take risks? Get lucky? No or yes.
12. Would the world be a better or worse place if this person hadn't existed? How and why? The world cannot be better. Our Art is a trial to describe and attenuate; an essay on how, by performing, by representing we become representation. Traveling, being abroad makes you closer to abstraction. We are a sound, a word where we are now; we are one step away from being a pixel in order to achieve another middle-eastern religious prophecy. We follow our identity quest. |
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Message not delivered
Type of work: Telepresence device
© 2008
Through their « Message not delivered », the two artists build a representation of themselves in society, where elements from their respective lives in relation with their real-life experiences are featured. They deal with the issues of immigration and long-distance relationships through a telepresence system.
[Click on the file below to see the video showing the work during the exhibition]
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Charbel Haber
Charbel Haber is a Lebanese guitarist and composer born in Beirut on June 1, 1978.
He is the co-founder and member of the Lebanese post-punk band « Scrambled Eggs » (1998); founder of « Those Kids Must Choke », a record company for experimental music (2004) ; active member of the Lebanese Scene for free improvisation and member of the MILL association (Musique Improvisée Libre au Liban) since 2002 ; member and co-founder of the BAO trio, a free improvisation band; member of the''Moukhtabar'' ensemble, the Lebanese ensemble for free improvisation, and the ''Grendizer'' trio for free performance and improvisation.
He has also worked since 2001 on 'La Chambre'', a project of intimist electronic music and since 2003 on ''Kitano Home Ensemble'', an electro-acoustic project.
He has also worked with musicians and artists like Michael Zerang, Gene Coleman, Justice Yeldham and The Dynamic Ribbon Machine, Jean Pallandre, Laurent Grappe, Tadahiko Yokogawa, Discipline, Stephane Rives, Mazen Kerbaj, Sharif Sehnaoui, David Stackenas, Christine Sehnaoui, Raed Yassin…
Haber’s work also includes the film industry and video art : as a solo artist with « Scrambled Eggs », he has composed movie soundtracks for “A Perfect Day” and “Je Veux Voir”, directed by Khalil Joreige and Joanna Hadji Thomas, “Jeunes et Innocents” and “Le Liban En Automne”, directed by Nadim Tabet. He has also worked with video artists such as Lamia Joreige and Akram Zaatari. |
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Yara Raffoul
“Born in 1978, I grew up in France then settled in Beirut.
I had slightly atypical university studies that combined French literature and all forms of graphic arts.
I worked on web design at first before moving on to printed graphics. Since then, I work as a freelance graphic designer. This gives me the opportunity to work on projects that are completely different from one another. My work ranges from creating a logo to the graphic adaptations of the resulting identity, the conception of the cover of a music album, a magazine, a website, a poster… in short, anything that can be printed and can give life to a brand and help it evolve. When seen from this viewpoint, my work always opens a great number of perspectives….”
Yara Raffoul |
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6 O’clock
Type of work: Audio website
© 2003
The work of these two artists is defined as a leisurely walk that can be perceived in two manners. On the one hand it is a graphic and visual stroll accompanied by music, noises, and sound patches. This same road can also be perceived in the opposite direction: it is the graphic that represents the music. This walk remains a free walk of traditional page layout, proportion, typography, and even readability.
[Click on the file below to see the video showing the work during the exhibition]
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Mansour El-Habre
Born in April 1970, Mansour El-Habre teaches drawing at ALBA (Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts) in Beirut.
He obtained his Diplôme d’Etudes Supérieures in plastic arts from the Institute of Fine Arts, section II, (Lebanese University) – Beirut – Lebanon, in 1994. In 2006, he also obtained a Master in plastic arts from Balamand University (ALBA).
The works of Mansour El-Habre are regularly exhibited at the Janine Rubeiz gallery in Beirut. He has also displayed his works abroad in galleries and festivals in Dubai, Quebec, Geneva and London.
The artist currently lives and works in Lebanon. |
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How he lost his right hand finger
Type of work: Experimental website
© 2008
Mansour El-Habre presents a website where the user browses around and collects elements aiming to answer the question: « What did he do to lose his right hand middle finger as a child? ». The reply is attained through a labyrinthine navigation that puts the user in front of numerous disturbing possibilities that question the reality of the civil war of 1975.
[Click on the file below to see the video showing the work during the exhibition]
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Rabih Khalil
Born in Beirut in1974, Rabih Khalil has been teaching Visual Arts at Collège Saint Joseph - Antoura - Lebanon, where he also mentors kindergarten teachers in Visual Arts workshop.
His work consists of showing the oddness of contradiction, witch, according to him, is nothing less than the marrow of existence itself. In his production, he juxtaposes meaning and no-meaning as both the ingredients of a visual logic.
Regardless of the kind of media he uses in his work; be it digital or traditional, that logic is there.
Rabih Khalil has been conducting a philosophical research with an esthetic approach which will soon come out in a book.
His work is exhibited in varies galleries in Lebanon such as: International Art Center, Kulurzentrum, L’Entretemps, Ajial Art Gallery etc.
Rabih Khalil graduated from the Institut des Beaux-Arts II (Université Libanaise) in Beiut-Lebanon-major: Visual Arts. He also pursued studies in History of Italian Cinema and architecture at the Università per Stranieri di Siena (Italy).
Currently, he lives and works in Lebanon. |
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Lebanon everywhere
Type of work: Internet Search Engine
© 2008
The artist presents a Search Engine under the name « Lebanon everywhere ». It is a letter collector that searches exclusively for the letters composing the word « Lebanon ». In any text appearing on any website, the letters that constitute the word « Lebanon » are automatically selected, reassembled, and displayed.
http://www.lebanoneverywhere.com
[Click on the file below to see the video showing the work during the exhibition]
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Ricardo Mbarkho
Artist and University teacher.
Lives and works in France and Lebanon.
Ricardo Mbarkho was born in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1974. His works and lectures take part in many publications, media, and in education and art institutions and events in Lebanon and internationally. His work questions the identity issue often in relation to the new technologies of information and communication.
Ricardo Mbarkho received his Art Diplomas from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts and Ecole Supérieure d’Etudes Cinématographiques, Paris, France and from Institut Supérieur des Beaux-Arts, Beirut. He also completed an exchange study program at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. He currently lives in Lebanon and teaches art, video, and new media at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts, Beirut. |
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Digital visuals from Lebanon
Type of work: Digital images
© 2008
Ricardo Mbarkho presents « Digital visuals from Lebanon », a series of digital images printed on large format photo papers based on the numerous agreements signed by the Lebanese State since the independence of Lebanon. In order to obtain these images, the artist uses the capacity of the computer to render the files containing the texts of these agreements as if they were image files. The computer calculated the binary code of each text file and generated the corresponding image. The series comprises images of binary codes of texts such as: the Doha agreement, the Taef accord, the Lebanon-Syria Treaty of Brotherhood, Cooperation and Coordination, the tripartite agreement, the Cairo agreement, the national pact, the Lebanese constitution, as well as the word « Lebanon » itself.
[Click on the file below to see the video showing the work during the exhibition]
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Nadia Oufrid
Nadia Oufrid is a theater designer, researcher in theater and new technologies, and lecturer at the Académie Libanaise des Beaux Arts in Beirut. She is Amazighe and was born in Marrakech in 1978. She obtained her State degree from the Institut Supérieur d’Art Dramatique et d’Animation Culturelle in Rabat, and pursued her studies in Paris X where she obtained her DEA on urban space in street theater in France. She participated in the second prefiguration of FAI AR (Formation Avancée Itinérante des Arts de La Rue) in Marseille, and has worked with many theater companies, such as the Plasticiens Volants company in France. She is currently working on her PhD thesis on online theater at Paris III La Sorbonne Nouvelle. She lives and works in Lebanon. |
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Dialogue
Type of work: Online theater
© 2008
Nadia Oufrid presents an online play entitled « Dialogue ». Once the user is connected to the project’s website, he is greeted by two virtual actors on a virtual stage. They recite texts taken from two URL addresses randomly selected by the system. The user can change the URL addresses to his liking and therefore change the dialogue of the actors, as by drawing from various Lebanese sites (political, artistic, or other). The various emotions that characterize the lines are rendered by the tone of the voice, the noises, and the music.
http://www.nadiaoufrid.com/dialogue
[Click on the file below to see the video showing the work during the exhibition]
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Shawki Youssef
Shawki Youssef is a Lebanese artist born in 1973, he works with word and image since early nineties. He questions the sociopolitical sphere of Lebanon today. His work is shown in different galleries in Lebanon and abroad. |
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Construct Lebanon
Type of work: Online interactive game
© 2008
Shawki Youssef’s project is an online game on the possibilities of a potential « construction » of Lebanon, based on the daily political speeches. The screen displays the pieces of a puzzle that constitutes the map of Lebanon. The player has to manually assemble the pieces, but his success depends on the choice of the « words » of politicians that are published in newspapers. Some « words » might lead the player to victory and end the game whereas others would lead to a higher difficulty level and thus extend the game’s duration.
The work's address: http://www.lanebon.com
[Click on the file below to see the video showing the work during the exhibition]
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