HN51 over the
Artist's Body 2025
Facsimile reproduction of graphite
on paper, 56 x 90 cm (drawing) ;
67 x 97 cm (sheet) over wallpaper
Drone Operator: Habib Chaar
2nd phase of the project HN51
produced with the support of TAP -
Temportary Art Platform - and
MACAM - Modern and Contemporary
Art Museum, Alita.
HN51 over the artist’s body, 2025
Facsimilé d’une mine de plomb sur
papier, 56 x 90 cm (dessin) ; 67 x
97 cm (feuille) sur papier peint
Opérateur drone : Habib Chaar
2e volet du projet HN51 produit
avec le soutien de TAP -
Temportary Art Platform - et MACAM
- Modern and Contemporary Art
Museum, Alita.
In
2022, I accomplished a
site-specific intervention
commissioned by TAP -
Temporary Art Platform - in
the Temple of Hosn Niha
(Directorate of Antiquities
code HN51). The Roman
sanctuary resembled a site
of catastrophe, which led me
to envision it as an
ephemeral, displaced
monument to the silos of the
Port of Beirut. These
structures became symbolic
markers of the August 4,
2020 explosions. My
intention was to draw, in
white chalk and at a 1/1
scale, the 48 circular silos
of the port across the
temple and its surrounding
mineral landscape. However,
despite the project's prior
approval, employees from the
Directorate of Antiquities
interrupted the work and
erased the white circles
that had already been drawn
on the stones.
When
François Sargologo and
Hanibal Srouji invited me
to join The End of
Romanticism, I
created a drawing that
represents an aerial view
of the temple of Hosn
Niha. Depicting a precise
stone-by-stone drawing and
subdued tones, the work
stands in contrast to the
dramatic sensibility often
associated with Romantic
depictions of ruins,
affirming that Romanticism
has perished in our
ongoing apocalypse.
Meanwhile,
a residency at MACAM -
Modern and Contemporary
Art Museum-, offered an
opportunity to draw the
invisible links between
sites of decay, since
MACAM is located in the
abandoned Alita
factories, once
producers of chalk, the
same brand I used at
Hosn Niha. The space
also features four silos
similar in shape and
size to those of the
Port of Beirut. During
the residency, I
performed series of
actions within these
modern ruins, documented
by drone. The wallpaper
of HN51 over the
artist’s body is a still
image taken from this
footage.
Since
the courses of our
lives are layered with
rubble, my body, lying
on the ground, becomes
covered by the drawing
itself. What I hadn’t
expect was the
reaction of the
installer at Galerie
Janine Rubeiz as he
unrolled the
wallpaper.
“There’s a corpse,”
he said.
“I
know,” I replied.
“It’s mine.”
“We’ll
try to hide it
as much as we
can.”
exhibition
- La fin du
romantisme. Gregory
Buchakjian, Francois
Sargologo, Hanibal Srouji.
Galerie Janine Rubeiz, 30
April - 30 May 2025.
Website: https://galeriejaninerubeiz.com
