12 * 01 * 15
ISSUE 02
[S T U D I O]
THE DOCUMENT OF
PORTLAND STATE’S
MFA STUDIO VISITING
ARTIST LECTURE SERIES
BASMA ALSHARIF
Artist Basma Alsharif gave a lecture called “Trauma & Apathy” in
Lincoln Hall on December 1, 2015. The following is her interview
with the MFA Studio students.
BASMA ALSHARIF AFTER THE LECTURE / PHOTO BY MELANIE FLOOD
[STUDIO]: How does it feel to have a permanent address in Los Angeles after years
of living and making work nomadically?
Basma Alsharif: I am not technically “from”
anywhere. As a Palestinian born and raised
outside of Palestine, I was somehow deprived
of being from Palestine while my inextricable
link to the place reminds me that I am denied
citizenship to my “homeland”. On top of
that is the feeling that to be an immigrant
is to be a foreigner, a stranger. In the year
2000, Edward Said wrote a text titled “The
Entire World as a Foreign Land” for Mona
Hatoum’s then-recently commissioned works
for the Tate. The title, which to me always
seems like it inherently carried the word
“Palestine” in it, allowed me to understand
that I am not alone in feeling this way; being
human is an alienating experience - whether
or not we recognize it is another story.
The first time I visited LA, I had this uncanny
feeling that I had come home. It wasn’t at all
familiar to me, but I noted it was relatively
un-territorial - and I felt relieved by that. No
one made claims about how long they had
lived in any one neighborhood, whether or
not they were born in LA, or even America.
There is a sense of discovering this place
- and more importantly one’s place within
it - that is significant. It has been easy to navigate and difficult to understand. It is huge
but feels local. For me it feels like the first
time that I don’t have to worry about being
from nowhere.
[S]: In your talk you mentioned working
for a news agency in Cairo, Egypt. You
said that your primary interest was in the
agency’s archives. To what degree do you
consider your work to be aligned with or
opposed to journalism?
BA: I don’t believe it is a binary relationship
at all. Journalism has a distinct purpose, a
clear function. Art/film has neither a distinct
purpose, nor a clear function. The first works
I made had a strong relationship to Media as
it relates to how information is relayed, how
we understand history and political struggle
through representation. I’m interested in
interrogating semiotics as it relates to the
very polarizing place I am deeply connected
to. Palestine is an occupied place and it is
somehow where I am from, so the relationship of journalism to a territory that has been
“
occupied my entire life–that I know intimately
and also feel distanced from–makes journalism a fascinating field to play in and with.
[S]: Based on the ideas you presented in
your lecture, when would you say something is an exploitation of grief and when is
it a representation of grief?
BA: I believe all representation is exploitation.
As soon as I record something to celluloid
or video, still or moving, it becomes a two
dimensional object that I am using in
ways far removed from that subject
and their agency over there image.
[S]: Your use of color and pattern
is seductive and hypnotic. Many of
DEEP SLEEP, 2014
SUPER 8 MM TRANSFERRED TO HD VIDEO. 2014. IMAGE COURTESY OF BASMA ALSHARIF
NEXT EDITION OF [STUDIO]:
February 9, 2016
BA: I feel myself growing closer to understanding an idea, a color, an image, a sound
etc when I have to relearn how I come to
understand what I am seeing, listening to,
etc. I believe manipulation, the use of layering, saturated colors, and mixing different
medias together makes us aware of how
we see.
[S]: We’re interested in your work that
explores bilocation (the experience of
being in multiple places at once) and its
connection to cinema’s ability to move
through time and space. Can you explain
how you do this and your intentions?
something I don’t know I’m searching for
until I find it. Sort of like what happens in the
nearly campy Badalamenti video. I believe
in the energy derived from synchronicity. It
feels to me as though synchronicity is the
process being described in the video.
[S]: What artists or art movements have
influenced you and why?
BA: I am influenced by music.
[S]: What would you change if you could
change any of US policy on Israel/Palestine?
Everything.
I believe all representation is exploitation.
They become one part of a system
of semiotics that betrays their
agency. Representation is a kind
of code, a language. So when I am
recording an image,
I am aware that I am taking something because I will use that something in a way that suits the idea I
want to produce.
JAMES LUNA
your videos make use of overlapping and
manipulated imagery, audio of everyday
life, people experiencing tragedy, and
more. Please tell us more about these
aesthetic choices.
BA: I don’t think anyone can
really explain bilocation. The
answer to my interest in it is in
the question itself: its connection to cinema’s ability to move
through time and space. Watching film is a form of hypnosis
that allows you to move into
another space while remaining
aware of where you are. There
is magic in this. I am attempting
to make the connection (albeit
lyrically) that there is a parallel
with Palestine: a place with
perpetually shifting geo-political
borders, large populations of
refugees, immigrants, and exiles.
[S]: Before your lecture, you
shared with us a video of
Angelo Badalamenti composing music for Twin Peaks. What
is the relation of this video to
your practice?
BA: I’m a process-based artist:
making work by searching for
BASMA ALSHARIF SPEAKING WITH HEATHER LANE OF CINEMA PROJECT
PHOTO BY MELANIE FLOOD
Basma Alsharif is an artist/filmmaker born in Kuwait of Palestinian origin. Since receiving a Master of Fine Arts
in 2007 from the University of Illinois at Chicago, she developed her practice nomadically between Cairo, Beirut,
Sharjah, Amman, and the Gaza Strip. Her works have shown in solo exhibitions, biennials, and film festivals
internationally including the Palais de Tokyo, New Museum, the Jerusalem Show, TIFF, the Berlinale, the Sharjah
Biennial, Videobrasil, and Manifesta 8. Basma is represented by Galerie Imane Farés in Paris and distributed by
Video Data Bank and is currently based in Los Angeles.
* See her entire lecture on vimeo.com: search for PSU MFA Studio Art
[ STUDIO ] RESPONDS
01
TO BASMA ALSHARIF
02
Western cultures have little exposure to Palestinian films, due to Palestine’s lack of resources, censorship of cultural
products coming out of the Palestinian territories. Film directors from other countries, including Israel, have represented Palestine in film, but films by and for Palestinians are marginalized. One need only go to Portland’s premiere
video rental store, Movie Madness, to see how the Israeli film section dominates other Arabic cinema.
Jean-Luc Godard’s film Notre Musique seems to trap the Palestinian people within the film, in what he refers to as a
state of “Purgatorio.” The film explores the Palestinian collective trauma of being conquered and massacred by Israeli
forces, being ousted from their homes and banished from their country. The film makes clear that this is not pain which
can be healed in a single generation; the trauma will be passed on and compounded by the fact that violence is still a
constant in Palestinian daily life.
Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman created three autobiographical feature length films that tell the stories of his
parents in the early days of the Israeli invasion and of his current life. Through repetition of shots, lack of dialogue,
dark comedy, and monotony, his films emphasize the inability to change the Palestinian state. His characters are often
in the same situations repeating the same dialogue, never coming to a conclusion. The are hence trapped in Godard’s
“Purgatorio.”
Though Suleiman has gained popularity in cinema, the industry is so
saturated with Israeli films that the Palestinian story is often unknown
or forgotten. In the recent Israeli film Waltz with Bashir, the filmmaker
Ari Folman creates what appears to be an apology to Palestine by
following the story of the guilt an Israeli soldier experiences during
the attack of Beirut in the 1980s. This animated documentary was
initially censored in Israel, though it was acclaimed world wide. Waltz
with Bashir is a classic case of perpetrator trauma. Folman alleviates
himself of his guilt by expressing his remorse in this film. Yet, he
undermines the authenticity of his sentiment by concluding that his
true trauma was born from the Nazi Holocaust and the Palestinian
massacre simply reminded him of the trials his parents went through.
DRAWING OF BASMA ALSHARIF AFTER THE LECTURE
BY HYUNJU KIM
03
Basma Alsharif’s films not only address the media coverage of the
ongoing conflict in her native Palestine, but are also poetic, relying
on timing, overlapping images, and at times vibrant and extreme
colors and sounds. In Deep Sleep, Basma uses the method of autohypnosis to be in two places at once. This allows her to connect
mentally with the destruction in Palestine while she is physically
walking through ruins in Greece. I was struck by the imagery and
connection of the artist to both her native culture and ancient
history. In my own work I aim to make similar connections between
ancient cultures and what rituals may have been lost between the
past and present. During my studio visit with Basma Alsharif, the
topic of referencing symbols from other cultures came up, and I
asked her specifically about her thoughts on cultural appropriation.
She told me in her own words that she believed the most insulting
thing is when the interest is there, but the artist does not go far
enough to address it or avoids the topic out of fear. My reason for
using symbols from other cultures is that they address my ideas
better than Western symbols. According to Alsharif, that is a very
different motivation from how the dominant culture appropriates
imagery with shallow understanding of the meanings behind the
symbols, or for economic gain. She ended our conversation about
cultural appropriation by saying, ”Just don’t be a jerk about it.” I
appreciated her perspective on the matter and will certainly not
forget this advice.
HIGH NOON, 2015
As a Palestinian filmmaker and artist, Basma Alsharif is creating work
in the thick of this chaos. Her work draws on current events and her
experiences, there is a sense of the monotony and repetition present in her films. She often uses herself as subject and
shows her journey through the trauma of the Palestinian purgatory. Her work offers new and nuanced points of entry
for people looking to learn about the Palestinian experience.
16MM TRANSFERRED TO HD VIDEO. 2015.
IMAGE COURTESY OF BASMA ALSHARIF
04
The work of Basma Alsharif speaks closely to
representations of place, history, and events
that occur within contested boundaries.
Alsharif’s work led me to reflect on my origins
in Mexico where I often witnessed ritualistic
practices that seemed to be in conversation
with a time that had passed or not yet arrived.
PHOTO BY SARAH CALVETTI
05
Basma Alsharif discussed three roles in filmmaking: the point of view of the maker, the viewer, and the work
itself. Alsharif thoroughly considers each role, making her work stand strong from each perspective. Her
work is layered, literally and metaphorically by overlapping different images and audio, but her work goes
beyond hypnotic manipulation. She is interested in the psyche of her viewers, which creates significant symbolic layers. At times the imagery is mesmerizing and soothing while simultaneously the audio consists of the
alarming sound of screams and warfare. This inspires a diverse range of emotional responses, as contradictory as the physical layering. She is concerned with the experience of watching traumatic events repetitively
and how innocent people can be reflected in the process. Alsharif’s work asks, “What happens to the conscience of the viewer? At what point do they react?” In her lecture, Basma Alsharif spoke of the complicated
phenomena of feeling simultaneously good and bad while watching representations of traumatic events. Is
this because viewers are feeling and reacting as they are supposed to? Empathy becomes an important
aspect of her work, as she seems to experiment with viewers, and possibly herself.
O, PERSECUTED, 2014
16MM & VIDEO, TRANSFERRED TO HD VIDEO. 2014. IMAGE COURTESY OF BASMA ALSHARIF
PSU MFA Studio Visiting Artist Lecture Series is sponsored in part by Blick-Utrecht Art Supplies, MFA
Happy Hour, the PSU School of Music, and the PSU School of Art + Design. The series brings together
artists, curators, and critics from a variety of disciplines to explore the subjects of their own work
before a live audience.
PSU’S MFA IN CONTEMPORARY ART PRACTICE/STUDIO degree program is dedicated to interdisciplinary experimentation and the exploration of ideas through the experience of making. Students are
supported in a range of research and production, from the traditional to the emerging, as they consider
the multiple ways art can live in and beyond the studio.
WWW.PSUMFASTUDIO.ORG * WWW.PDX.EDU/ART-DESIGN/GRADUATE
Editors: Carlin Brown & Julie Perini
Lecture Series Director: Julie Perini
Image Editor: Kayley Berezney
Copy Editor: Sam Sanderson
Designer: Jordenn Bailey
Design Supervisor: Kate Bingaman-Burt
01. Hyunju Kim
02. Kensey Anderson
03. Megan Hanley
04. Sarah Calvetti
05. Kayley Berezney