—2014.10.10

Ninar Esber / James Webb January 15th. Mach 14th. 2015

This exhibition by Ninar Esber and James Webb introduces different forms ofdisobedience that tend to thwart the systems of societal domination. The defiancethese two artists address towards the underlying censorship within the moral andtechnological codes of our era of emergence proposes symbolic mutation as a possiblemeans to resist these systems. Ninar Esber and James Webb display a clear andfleeting vision of our behaviours, borrowing the theatrical form of the Ishtar Gate in onecase, and diverting our mobile phones without our knowledge in the other. Thisproposition questions the transformation of the relations in which we exist, andtherefore the question of resistance so aptly developed by Foucault 1: “how is itpossible to produce positive mutations in the global biopolitics of bodies and subjects?This question immediately implies major self-critical work, on the conditions of one'sown thinking process, on one's relation to others, on the conditions and consequencesof our own existence”.

Cécile Bourne-Farrell, London, 18 September 2014

1
Foucault, Michel. Naissance de la biopolitique - résumé du cours au

Collège de France In Annuaire du Collège de France, 79e année, Histoire dessystèmes de pensée, année 1978-1979; Dit et écrits. Vol. III. Gallimard, 1979.

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“Us” This exhibition by Ninar Esber and James Webb introduces different forms of disobedience that tend to thwart the systems of societal domination. The defiance these two artists address towards the underlying censorship within the moral and technological codes of our era of emergence proposes symbolic mutation as a possible means to resist these systems. Ninar Esber and James Webb display a clear and fleeting vision of our behaviours, borrowing the theatrical form of the Ishtar Gate in one case, and diverting our mobile phones without our knowledge in the other. This proposition questions the transformation of the relations in which we exist, and therefore the question of resistance so aptly developed by Foucault : “how is it possible to produce positive mutations in the global biopolitics of bodies and subjects ? This question immediately implies major self-critical work, on the conditions of one’s own thinking process, on one’s relation to others, on the conditions and consequences of our own existence”.
James Webb explores the nature of belief through dynamic and innovative modes of transmission, all the while summoning the viewer’s capacity for wonder. In order to achieve this, he employs humour, diverts the usage of common technologies, and strategically develops his artistic vocabulary in accordance with each situation he works in. James Webb has participated in the 9th Lyon Biennale, the 3rd Marrakech Biennale, as well as in the recent Venice Biennale. He has presented projects at Domaine Pommery, a telephonic intervention at the Palais de Tokyo¹ , and took part in the exhibition “No Limit” at Galerie Imane Farès in 2012. During various residencies (like at the Darat al Funun²in Amman), he has worked on projects in the public sphere. His latest commission was an audio guide for a cemetery in Stockholm³.

For several years, he has been compiling a worldwide audio archive of interfaith prayers. Significantly he works between languages and beliefs in a response to his childhood, which was marked by the height and the end of apartheid. In a multidisciplinary way, James Webb focuses on the most intangible of forms such as sound, light and connectivity by modifying the function or the reception of the place where he is asked to intervene, rather like in the artwork exhibited here called Spectre. According to Sean OʼToole, one of the first South African critics to write about his work : “He can make light and sound theatrical to the point that they also evoke their own dysfunctions.” It is with great ease that James Webb merges fiction and theatre, to the extent that we start to believe that even if a space seems to have a specific function, everything is reversible. As Webb underlines : “I am fascinated by the dynamics of belief, not just in a religious, theatrical and social way, but also in an art historical and economic way. I never studied art or music at university. Instead, I read for degrees in Drama and Comparative Religion. I also obtained a diploma in Copywriting. These three subjects, along with an appetite for cinema and experimental music, are keys to my contemporary art practice.” The video entitled Le Marché Oriental involved inviting an Imam to sing the call to prayer in the remains of an Apartheid-era building that functioned as a segregated market called The Oriental Plaza before its demolition and transformation into luxury apartments. This artwork places the viewer inside the place which is destined for destruction, bathed as it is in a perfect but worrying tranquillity, which is that of the resistance echoing all the imposed and suffered injustices. The person reciting the Adhan is never revealed, the absence transcends daily reality giving these moving images a spiritual dimension prior to the erasure of any trace of this dark period in South Africa. James Webb says : “My interest in religious belief has to do with how we articulate our position in the universe, how we choose to give certain things power”. This is how I would introduce Know Thy Worth, a work that relates to the value we bestow on ourselves. Somewhat cynically, this ancient saying reviews the concept of capitalism and selfevaluation. The Greek aphorism “Know Thyself” decorated the entrance to the oracle in Delphi, where the priestess Pythia officiated behind a veil, understood here as reference to the subtraction from representation, a disembodied voice whose esoteric associations are still so praised. This specially hand-written⁴modus operandi evokes finance and self-worth, a speculative metaphor to encourage a particularly vigilant and receptive state.

Cécile Bourne-Farrell, London, 10 October 2014

↑ 1https://soundcloud.com/theotherjameswebb↑ 2http://www.daratalfunun.org/↑ 3the cemetery of Skogskyrkogården in Stockholm : www.letmelosemyself.com↑ 4This calligraphy was made by Mohammed Abu Aziz, one of the most renowned calligraphists of Jordan

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