18.09.14

It is a big day for Scotland. Yes. No. There is no maybes about it, because that lies within both sides of the answer. However I have swayed and swayed about the decision and the most I feel hollow about is the absence of a good debate I could have had with Simon. For better or for worse, I will be voting the one way or the other. Geographical boundaries will not sway me either way. It is the most vulnerable I felt in the last few weeks and my human side will take over to give a voice to my loved one. It means a lot to me, because so much more it meant for him. Love you Simon. Always.

ZIEME

It is not unusual for me to refer to another artist's work on my blog. More often than not it is due to some influence or a link to my practice, or maybe to delineate some strings of engagement with other wavelengths.  I rarely write about other artist's works per se, as I tend to manifest most of my thoughts in the making of things. 

I will make an exception towards Camilleri's work, Zieme, which is a temporary exhibit as part of VIVA 2014: http://www.visitmalta.com/en/event-details/2014-09/viva-valletta-international-visual-arts-festival-7683

Many have vented their views and opinions of justification or otherwise on social media and media alike. Whether one likes or dislikes this work (or any work for that matter) without going any deeper, many a time it proves pointless. Parallel to its relevance as a work that has been placed in the public domain, it has proved to be a ground of conversation and debate, hence for me is seems extremely important to observe how the (maltese) public is affected in 2014.

To make my position clear -  I like this work. Especially every time I find myself considering how people are reacting to it, form like to spite, from proposing to have it permanently exhibited to petitioning for  its removal or even substitution to 4 knights... (plain sad when one can think that the city itself needs more underlining of the knights' heritage).

Zieme is a public art work, and considering its temporal timescale it really engages with the site (both formally [the laborious process typical monuments require] and conceptually [the proximate site, Valletta - the parliament in particular and the more distant one - Malta's lack of equestrian monuments])

It is not my job to justify this work, conjure proof or quoting Derrida, though it is my duty to engage and yes disengage while showing my reasoning as a viewer and yes as an artist.

Some of the emotions towards Zieme made me recall Richard Serra's Tilted Arc (1981). It is, sorry was, a  site specific work by a leading artist who had no/little public backing and eventually it was removed. Less drastic was the end to The Angel of the North, which initially was fuelled with controversy until it became an emblem of the region! 

But what place can Zieme claim in 2014? Hoovering through all that has been said weather trashy or substantial, one always turns back to the intention of the artist. I admit for some people it is very difficult to go beyond the first allegorical explanations and some will need an answer too quickly because the unknown and the unnamed can be very threatening or at the very least disconcerting. 

One way of actually killing the amputated horse, would be by asking the artist to 'explain his work'. A more illuminating approach would be simply to have a look previous works by the artist. One particular proposal that Camilleri has made for the Maltese Republic registration call should shed some light. The absence of the pedestal and the gaze towards it helps emphasise the presence of a space. A space and place to celebrate the engendering of life within the marginal seem to be the values and interests that fuel such proposal: http://www.heritagemalta.org/monuments/ It is not a eulogy for one particular person but in its process of unveiling it is something that will glorify the ground from a disregarded slum to something worth investing in. 

Many have argued that Zieme is a weak image, even petitioned that the disability of the horse is a sign of weakness in the grand city. Some got stuck in immediate petty political connections and try to prove a futile point.

It is sad that few are able to celebrate an artist who is validly making a comment, of questioning power and what power is. He is not giving an answer because there could be diverse arguments at play (and so it should be). Even some of those who petitioned for the permanence installation of this work, seem to marginally fail to get that the impermanence in the duration of exhibition in relation to the permanence of the material used, forms part of the ideologies the artist was playing with, when he conceived this particular work for that particular timeframe.

What is even sadder is that some feel the need of the triumphant image with the sole figure mounted in full glory, because they are unable to celebrate an idea of one of their own through his work, or maybe they/we do not have faith in ourselves collectively and intrinsically, anymore. Perhaps we need reminded what was it like for the unnamed who fought and resisted and got the GC on our flag. Or maybe the self deification through the pedestal of social media has warped our senses in general. 

One might not like it but Zieme has posed some valid questions to our perceptions and how we conceive and regurgitate reality in 2014.