Laissez-Passer
Introduction I was born in Alexandria. In the early 1950s my family was forced to leave Egypt with a one-way pass (laissez-passer). On the way to Israel we passed through Marseilles. Due to the circumstances, since post-war Marseilles became a center of activity for the Jewish institutions in France, Jews from the DP camps and from North Africa, “immigrants on their way”, were gathered in the camp which became known as “the Camp of the Jews.” Through these incarnations of the story of the specific camp – a camp that absorbed and released displaced persons and preserved the memory of a rupture in a personal and collective history – I endeavored to examine the boundaries of the memory regarding states of displacement, refugeeism and immigration in the present consciousness, as well as the dialectic relations between these states and the notion of “camp". The project A structure of linked stainless steel bottles, their truncated ends inserted one into another, thus constructing a parabola. The result functions as a wind/brass instrument that diffuses acoustic sound through these 'pipes' - a collage of migrants’ testimonies disseminated in various public spaces. The structure functions as an object, an auditorium, a laboratory and a 3-dimensional archive. Some of the links are partially open, exposing the join between the bottle’s base and the neck of the previous one. These spaces in the arch diffuse the acoustic sound. The intention is to convey awareness and understanding of the concept of displacement in the 21st century. As a constructive field of fluxes, a space of resilience deriving from an acoustic work embedded in a rehabilitated former structure, it offers the space for personal free choice. Grand Arénas plays a dual role in the project: - The design derives from the construction of the Grand Arénas camp, and its effect on the body. It is a parabola of truncated stainless steel bottles extruded from a special mould, inspired by the ‘ceramic rockets’ of the camp’s barracks. The vault thus formed is simultaneously wall and roof – an intimate, organic interior space. The curved links are exposed both inside and outside. - How bodies were regulated at Grand Arénas (administrative, medical, and juridical authorities) provides the framework for interviewing the migrants. Isolation, forced promiscuity, processes of selection, de-individualized bodies turned into manpower, somatic consequences of displacement, but also the body as the site of resistance, resilience and identity - these are the key issues tackled during interviews. The recorded testimonies are integrated into an electronicacoustic collage, a compilation that reflects both the ambiance of a specific community and the global theme of migration. Visual space Since the migrant’s body is the core of the installation, physicality and movement in the space are its key elements. The visitor’s body also has a central role, at times oppressed, stimulated, tense. Upon entering one hears a garbled noise. Listening to the testimonies and looking at the translations on the bottles require either bending or standing on tiptoe to get closer to the apertures and the scripts. In this context, the brass instrument becomes a choreographic map of the visitor's body. Context & Transition The installation intends to be a structure for permanent or temporary exhibitions in a museum space, art centre or monument; or a temporary installation in a public space. For the latter, the intention is to collaborate with migrant communities and organizations, and materializes in two phases. The first stage involves meeting migrants and recording their stories. In the second stage, the work is installed in a public space. The construction is nomadic, constantly undergoing de- and re-territorialization.
Laissez-Passer
Introduction I was born in Alexandria. In the early 1950s my family was forced to leave Egypt with a one-way pass (laissez-passer). On the way to Israel we passed through Marseilles. Due to the circumstances, since post-war Marseilles became a center of activity for the Jewish institutions in France, Jews from the DP camps and from North Africa, “immigrants on their way”, were gathered in the camp which became known as “the Camp of the Jews.” Through these incarnations of the story of the specific camp – a camp that absorbed and released displaced persons and preserved the memory of a rupture in a personal and collective history – I endeavored to examine the boundaries of the memory regarding states of displacement, refugeeism and immigration in the present consciousness, as well as the dialectic relations between these states and the notion of “camp". The project A structure of linked stainless steel bottles, their truncated ends inserted one into another, thus constructing a parabola. The result functions as a wind/brass instrument that diffuses acoustic sound through these 'pipes' - a collage of migrants’ testimonies disseminated in various public spaces. The structure functions as an object, an auditorium, a laboratory and a 3-dimensional archive. Some of the links are partially open, exposing the join between the bottle’s base and the neck of the previous one. These spaces in the arch diffuse the acoustic sound. The intention is to convey awareness and understanding of the concept of displacement in the 21st century. As a constructive field of fluxes, a space of resilience deriving from an acoustic work embedded in a rehabilitated former structure, it offers the space for personal free choice. Grand Arénas plays a dual role in the project: - The design derives from the construction of the Grand Arénas camp, and its effect on the body. It is a parabola of truncated stainless steel bottles extruded from a special mould, inspired by the ‘ceramic rockets’ of the camp’s barracks. The vault thus formed is simultaneously wall and roof – an intimate, organic interior space. The curved links are exposed both inside and outside. - How bodies were regulated at Grand Arénas (administrative, medical, and juridical authorities) provides the framework for interviewing the migrants. Isolation, forced promiscuity, processes of selection, de-individualized bodies turned into manpower, somatic consequences of displacement, but also the body as the site of resistance, resilience and identity - these are the key issues tackled during interviews. The recorded testimonies are integrated into an electronicacoustic collage, a compilation that reflects both the ambiance of a specific community and the global theme of migration. Visual space Since the migrant’s body is the core of the installation, physicality and movement in the space are its key elements. The visitor’s body also has a central role, at times oppressed, stimulated, tense. Upon entering one hears a garbled noise. Listening to the testimonies and looking at the translations on the bottles require either bending or standing on tiptoe to get closer to the apertures and the scripts. In this context, the brass instrument becomes a choreographic map of the visitor's body. Context & Transition The installation intends to be a structure for permanent or temporary exhibitions in a museum space, art centre or monument; or a temporary installation in a public space. For the latter, the intention is to collaborate with migrant communities and organizations, and materializes in two phases. The first stage involves meeting migrants and recording their stories. In the second stage, the work is installed in a public space. The construction is nomadic, constantly undergoing de- and re-territorialization.