Dear Makan 1
Dear Makan - First off: thanks again for having me! It has been three weeks since I started my residency and everything has been great so far: the colleagues, the conversations, the food, the studio and the art...
My plans here at Makan have to be seen in the context of ‘Impression, proche orient’ (IPO) a project I’m currently working on and that deals with contemporary Middle East society including politics, artistic identity and Jordan cucumbers. Part of this IPO is a Grand Tour of artist residencies in the region.
I’m officially an installation artist, who focuses on creating contextual pieces that are politically inspired. I choose to deal with difficult themes and subjects, but I try to maintain a degree of lightness and humor in my work.
The Jordanian ‘Impression, proche orient’ - chapter deals with the ‘Jordan Option’, by which Palestinians might be driven from the West Bank to live among their eastern neighbors. Khalid Mishal, the leader of Hamas, jokingly called it the “Jordan cucumber” because the Arabic word ‘khiyar’ translates as both ‘option’ and ‘cucumber.’ This wordplay became the starting point for my ‘Jordan Cucumber’ Project. It includes painting of fresh cucumbers, the growing of cucumbers in a make shift greenhouse made out of translucent tablecloths and the documenting of the spectacular decay of the Jordan cucumber.
I will keep you posted of further developments.
Sincerely,
Your resident,
Tom