Catalogue > Un extrait vidéo au hasard

“Michael” A video Installation Adel Abidin2014-2015 Introduction and statement: The pop culture’s influence on our contemporary world results in a life that is built of obsession with fame, youth and wealth. Celebrities like Hollywood actors or renowned pop singers are put on to a pedestal as our modern day messiahs. They do take active roles in our daily life, leading positions in the most effective organizations around the globe. Actors make a living bypretending and subsequently creating our children’s (and even ours) potential role models;as musicians do by composing a masterpiece that we meditate with. And at the end of the day, both the actors and the musicians, with the help of the mediatic elements of our popular culture, become more influential than the actual prophets themselves, even some of them end up having more followers than any other prophets. In the video, ”Michael”–as still being one of the universally celebrated icons of our time- is being interviewed after his resurrection. The answers he gives and the speech he makes is nothing but a compilation of his all time well-known songs’ lyrics. Therefore I am resurrecting him from the dead as a prophetic figure that unveils the universal truths about the world we live in. This false prophet is thrown on a television talk show, the ultimate pop culture altar. Due to the delicate nature of the interview and a characteristic plea for privacy, even in his afterlife, “Michael” has only agreed to do a private interview in a pseudo-talk show. Still, thousands of fans from around the world have gathered to view this ‘live’ broadcast on big screens in public spaces as in Times Square. Michael’s fansare there to have their questions answered by their hero live. “It has been a day almost of a religious anticipation,” states the reporter in Times Square. People gathered to witness the most historical moment of all times. Questionsrevolve around existential topics ofmysteries of death, afterlife and immortality. At the studio of “The 1-Show” in Manhattan, “Michael” sits opposite of“Mr. Paul Burke”, the host of the famous TV show. He is expectedto enlighten the crowds and make a confession of whatever he might be confessing right in front of the cameras and lights, while his fans are enduring the pain of their insatiable curiosity. The work goes beyond the limits by trying to convert the star into a fortune-teller, someone to interpret our future, and givetips to world leaders, prevent climate changes and advice on how to make a better world. The production and construction of Resurrection represents not only our innocence and our blind belief in prophetic symbols created by the elements of pop culture, but also our violent responses to such figures. Even after the death of such figures, we continue to follow them with an ill desire. Narrative style - ‘The 1-Show’ A lot of today’s popular culture has evolved around the mass media and it has created a strong link of dependency with ‘superstar’ celebrities. And although television is losing its’ leading exclusive role when compared to the use of the internet, it is still the only media that can gather hundreds and thousands of people in one place to follow unique, once in a lifetime live broadcasts such as Michael’s. Within this frame, the installation follows a format, imagery and a narration of an American talk show. Despite the supernatural feature of the interview, the footage presented in the installation is made to be completely realistic. This also applies to the appearance of ‘Michael’, the reactions of the crowds, the emotional yet professional mannerisms of the talk show host and the reporter in Times Square location. Additionally, the camera work mimics a one-to-one television talk show style, even including the raw documentary style of live footage from variouscities, which are brought to us by news anchors from all around in many different languages. Narrative elements: Live video within the installation consists of two main assets, 1) The studio interview with “Michael”. 2) Live coverage of people’s reactions from around the globe. Edits between the main assets as the interview progresses. The main narrative elements are: • Opening title sequence of the talk show
 • Introduction of the unique nature of ‘tonight’s show’ by the talk show host; “Mr. Paul Burke” including live links to our reporter “Mary”standing by the main selected spot“Times-square” in New York. • Introduction and entrée of the star guest “Michael” by the talk show host • Wide shots of big crowds gathered to watch the broadcast
 • Reactions from fans via live links
 • Questions posed to “Michael” by the talk show host
 • Questions posed to “Michael”by fans via live streaming channels and links
 • “Michael’s” response to the questions posed (quoting his own lyrics)
 • Final statement and farewell by “Michael”
 • Closing speech by the talk show host
 • Title sequence of the talk show

Adel Abidin was born in Baghdad in 1973, He did move to Helsinki in 2001 and lives there since then, Abidin joined the Finnish Art Academy in 2003 in order to do his Mater degree in fine Arts. during that time he switch his practice from full time painter to multimedia based practice, and since 2004 he started his career as a video and installation based artist. Abidin’s art uses various media such as videos, video installations, multi media sculptures and sound based installations and photography to explore the issues of the contemporary world that we are living in. His main point of departure is always linked to the intention to explore the complex relationship between visual art and politics & identity. Using a sharp palette of irony and humour always gravitated towards different social situations dealing with elusive experiences and cultural alienation. He uses his cross-cultural background (as an Iraqi artist living in Helsinki) to create a distinct visual language often laced with sarcasm and paradox, while maintaining an ultimately humanistic approach. This sarcasm used is nothing but a medium of provocation to serve the purpose of extending the mental borders of the artwork beyond the limits of the exhibition space. Always interested in creating opportunities to prolong the discussions beyond artwork by enabling the audience to convey mental elements from the work into their daily life. Moreover, he always finds the words ‘politics’ and ‘identity’ more than a terminology or a path that we travel in, as they unfold to other concepts like discrimination, mass media manipulation etc. Abidin presented his work at many Biennales such as: The 5th Guangzhou Triennial (2015); The 56th Venice Biennale- Iran Pavilion (2015); the Glasstress-The 56th International Art Exhibition– Venice Biennale (2015); Biennale of Contemporary Art of Bosnia (2013); 54th Venice Biennale- Iraq Pavilion (2011); 10th Sharjah Biennial (2011), 17th Biennale of Sydney (2010); 11th Cairo Biennale (2008); 4th Gothenburg Biennale (2007); 52nd Venice Biennale- Nordic Pavilion (2007); (Student workshop participation) 5th Istanbul Biennale (2005). Other participations such as: The Pera Museum, Istanbul; Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, Canada; Rapid Pulse International Performance Art Festival, Chicago, USA; Gwangju Museum of Art, South Korea; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia; The New Museum, New York, USA; MACRO-Museum, Rome, Louisiana Museum; Copenhagen, Station Museum, Houston; The Jerusalem show VII, Jerusalem; Hauser & Wirth Gallery, London; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Singapore Art Museum; Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver; Mead Gallery, UK; Palais de Tokyo; Arab World Institute, Paris; MOCCA, Toronto; Arts-Talks and Sensations, Abu Dhabi; MATHAF- Doha; Espace at Louis Vuitton. His solo exhibitions include: Lawrie Shabibi, Dubai, UAE (2015); Cover-Up!, Al Sultan Gallery, Kuwait (2015); Maraya Art Centre, Sharjah (2013), Lawrie Shabibi Gallery, Dubai (2013), ARTER- Space for Art, Istanbul (2012), Darat Al-Funun, Amman (2011), DA2- Centre of Contemporary Art in Salamanca, Spain (2010 ), KIASMA- Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki (2010), Association media Art gallery, Helsinki (2014). Abidin has received The Finland Prize for Visual Arts in (2015), Five Years Grant from The Art Council of Finland in (2013); Ars Fennica Prize Nominee 2011. Abidin has invited to be a visiting lecturer at many schools of Arts such as: College of Liberal Arts, Oregon State Uni. Portland, Oregon, USA (2010); The Art Academy of Helsinki (Kuva), (2015), LASALLE College of Arts, Singapore (2016); CalArts, California Institute of Arts, CA, USA (2016).