What Are the Conditions for a Space to Be Deemed Empty?
Installation (moving image, soundscape, projected text, sand)- Presented at Performing Art Forum, France, in the context of Dutch Art Institute- 2023.
Throughout history desert lands have been subject to continuous acts of violence, from using the lands as a ground for weapon testing and other nuclear experiments to a dumper of nuclear waste. These actions have wrought havoc, leaving a trail of ecological destruction in their wake, contaminating the scarce water sources, and perpetrating ecocide within the delicate ecosystems of numerous deserts worldwide. The consequences extend beyond the extinction of indigenous flora and fauna, eroding the inherent regenerative capabilities of these terrains.
In this work, I argue that the language used to describe the desert as empty can be traced to how the colonial projects saw it, which played a big role in paving the interventions and violence of colonial powers on these lands. The artwork encourages the audience to capture the problematic aspect of depicting the desert in both the describing language and the big movie industry of Hollywood, through indicating how the perception of the desert is misinformed by the two.
