a greater presence to things

The project is a 10-minute sound composition & animation, exploring emotional and cultural connections in a post-internet landscape. Using field recordings and a virtual piano, it deconstructs the phrase, engaging viewers in playful aural interaction. The composition's formal elements create a rhythmic play, revealing pulsating patterns and reflecting the theme of "seeing is believing" through distortion and repetition, jestering to sensorial ways in which we can build experiential meaning.       

Having had the chance to see Samia Halaby’s work that would have been on display at the museum’s show was an inspiration. I believe in the value of embodied abstraction. I believe in my chance to also sit under an old olive tree: my chance to potentially leave a piece of poetry on this earth as Halaby has done. 

The piece samples two of Samia Halaby's paintings as abstracted artifacts responding to Rahul Shrivastav (Provost & Executive Vice President of the Indiana University's Bloomington campus) speaking with faculty from the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design regarding the cancellation of Halaby's retrospective at the Eskenazi Museum in Bloomington. 

And again, yes, I think she wanted a detailed letter saying describe everything that happened. And, as I’m explaining to you, that is not something you can put succinctly in one paragraph, other than saying, “look, we are concerned with about the integrity of us being able to exhibit your art, as well as the community that we have to deal with.” And, again you…or I at least, am looking at every decision with what’s the reward and what’s the…risk? So, my question is very succinct: Will the administration issue a public apology to Samia Halaby, as well as the curator, administrators, and staff who worked on this for so long? Um, I’m not sure what the apology would be for because, because again, this is my opinion that.... Come on! It is her life’s work. It is her life’s work, but again, what is being cancelled is the exhibit… It’s a celebration of her life’s work. Yes, and maybe there are other ways to celebrate. Maybe we can do it again in the future. I recognize, I recognize. That is why we have a process and that’s why I said at the start of my comments: It has nothing to do with the content, or the person. It has everything to do with what keeps the community the way it is. It has everything to do with what keeps the community the way it is. But, again. [on repeat]

This piece highlights the persistent darkness imposed by oppressive and genocidal regimes, contrasting it with the fleeting shadows cast by natural eclipses. Hope Eclipsed delves into the lives of those in Palestine and Venezuela, who have to go through the long-lasting effects of human-made 'eclipses' that overshadow their days and nights. By using spheres that collide and emit a thermal light, my work symbolizes both the ongoing conflict and the vital need for attention on these issues that are so important to me.

The work explores the confrontation of discomfort associated with proximity to self reflection. It challenges us to a close examination of the self. The experimental graphic novel was developed as an interactive installation and shared here through video documentation of those exchanges.

The video is the complemented counterpart to “wat is luv bb don’t hurt me,” like a diptych of shapes in space.