ESSAY Writer - Woodman Taylor, art historian, curator and ethnomusicologist.
Tracing Performed Concepts: Creating an Archive UAE artists capturing their ephemeral, performative works in photographs
Hassan Sharif’s intense self-portrait, of himself
artist in real time, at a given time and place.
staring back at the photograph’s viewer,
Hassan Sharif’s first conceptual works were
poignantly captures one of the first moments
performative. To document his work, Sharif set
in the United Arab Emirate’s (UAE) innovative
up a camera to capture the performance as
Conceptual Art Movement. This photograph,
sequenced exposures. These individual exposures,
and a multiple-exposure at that, was taken in
as we see in his Jumping piece, were then framed
1981, when Sharif was studying art in London. In
in a sequence. When seen together, they gave
the two exposures, Sharif is caught in moments
a later viewer a sense of how the performance
of thought. The photograph also captures a
of Jumping was actually staged. From the initial
reflected rear view of someone looking out at
concept and its enactment, a second work was
the city from the balcony of their apartment
generated, which is photographic. What is left for
building. This intentional doubling, of the
posterity, the performance’s shadow captured on
thought or concept – here enacted by Sharif,
light-sensitive paper, is a photograph.
capturing the rear-view of someone viewing
Using photographs as the final visual record of
from their balcony, is an apt icon for the
a conceptual piece was a practice continued by
Photography is the only record, or trace, of the enactment of a concept performed by the artist in real time, at a given time and place.
conceptual art movement itself. As a meta-
Hassan Sharif’s student Mohammed Kazem. In
Third generation conceptual artist Ebtisam
photograph for the operation of conceptual
fact, the photographs from Mohammed’s 1994
Abdulaziz similarly uses a sequence of photographs
art, the photograph captures the formation of
performed piece titled Tongue that capture 36
to capture different choreographed moments in
a concept by it’s auteur as well as the concept’s
moments of his tongue’s intimate interaction
Women’s Circles. Viewed as a series of twenty
ultimate enactment.
in, through and around a variety of objects
chromogenic prints, each print can be viewed
including scissors, may be a stronger work than the
separately, representing yet a different circular
As one of Hassan Sharif’s first photographs
performance itself. The photographs allow viewers
constraint put upon a woman’s life.
taken during the shift of his act practice into
to focus on unlikely configurations of tongue and
conceptualism while studying in London, this
object, which would have been experienced as
Although both Mohammed Kazem and
first archived moment of the new movement
mere seconds during the unfolding performance.
Ebtisam Abdulaziz have recently replaced still
is physically a photograph. This signals the
The photographic series lets us explore all the
photography with video recordings of their
prime importance of photography for the
different angled tongue gestures at once. We also
performative work, where every replaying
conceptual art movement in the UAE. Although
can go back to view it again and again, or even
recreates the originative performance, the
the movement was not about photography,
take and enlarge one specific choreographed act
original record for and final ‘artistic product’
photography is the only record, or trace, of
for an extended viewing, such as when Kazem’s
from performances of the early conceptual
the enactment of a concept performed by the
tongue explores scissors.
movement in the Emirates was a photograph.
with the performance of his concept - of
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