Usine
2008
Video projection in loop, color, sound
1min. 27sec.
Usine (factory), a short video Abdessemed shot in Mexico City, is in the Pinault Collection. He made a one-and-a-half minute film of dogs, snakes, lizards, iguanas, scorpions, spiders and other predators in a courtyard under a bright sun. The raw, dynamic images show the attacks of some and the immobility of others, exploring the nature of violence, destruction and survival. The video also allows the artist to question how these issues are treated in contemporary society.
This work is part of a long series of controversial, provocative works by Abdessemed. The artist fled death and violence in his native Algeria in the early 1990s. They are at the heart of his work because, he says, "there is no beauty without shock and convulsion".
Usine was first presented by the Pinault Collection during the "Qui a peur des artistes ? (“Who’s Afraid of Artists?”) show at the Palais des Arts in Dinard in 2009.
This work is part of a long series of controversial, provocative works by Abdessemed. The artist fled death and violence in his native Algeria in the early 1990s. They are at the heart of his work because, he says, "there is no beauty without shock and convulsion".
Usine was first presented by the Pinault Collection during the "Qui a peur des artistes ? (“Who’s Afraid of Artists?”) show at the Palais des Arts in Dinard in 2009.
Exhibitions
© Adel Abdessemed / Adagp, Paris.
Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York
© Adel Abdessemed / Adagp, Paris.
Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York
© Adel Abdessemed / Adagp, Paris.
Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York
© Adel Abdessemed / Adagp, Paris.
Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York
© Adel Abdessemed / Adagp, Paris.
Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York
© Adel Abdessemed / Adagp, Paris.
Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York
© Adel Abdessemed / Adagp, Paris.
Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York
© Adel Abdessemed / Adagp, Paris.
Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York
© Adel Abdessemed / Adagp, Paris.
Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York
