‘Practice’ is the daily ‘work’ (verb) of art. It represents the sum of all moves—practical, conceptual, affective, cognitive, philosophical, analytical, and aesthetic—that occupy or de-occupy the state of our triangulation at any given moment. Contingent by nature, this practice shifts shape, surprising itself as much as it surprises others. Like a mycelial inhabitation—indeterminate and unbounded—it keeps expanding.

soDA Magazine Story

soDA magazine 19, Zurich (2002); Casebook (2014, AGYU Canada), Raqs presented the concept of “Event-shaped Hole” which translated into the essay The Event-shaped Hole and the Photographic Image in The Nordic Journal of Aesthetics, 2021 Casebook (2014, AGYU Canada) A photograph is an image of an event-shaped-hole, and as witnesses to such perforations we could […]

The Laughter of Tears

The Laughter of Tears Solo ExhibitionKunstverein Braunschweig, Germany  In Laughter of Tears draws us into a field of affect that pulses between joy and grief, celebration and dissent. The exhibition brings attention to moments of transmission, those flickers of connection that occur when people laugh, weep, or encounter wonder together. These are states that move before, […]

When Proust Catches the Glare

As the earth turns to spin slightly faster than before in 2021, and as the heavens break ranks, involuntary memories return to the beckoning of the lime-tar-fish-jasmine-gasoline-brine smell of a new time. This smell of a new time needs new words – and an old hand – to write it all down. 

Salt

Raqs works with salt, or that refers to salt, as material or concept. The inquiry started from “Salt”, a photo-essay published in The Drama Review, Volume 65 Issue 4, 2021. Salt, The Drama Review, Volume 65 Issue 4, 2021 (download) A Planet Turns on its Axis Without Permission Single screen, Video, 18:04 minutes “Provisions for Everybody” at […]

Comic Contempt

As time refracts, its shatter illuminates differing strands. A comic’s contempt, her whisper of laughter, threatens the consensus.

Ferment

If the big, open sky is a canopy for the tumult of birds and angels, then under which roof does the flight of the ferment of our times soar? Tent cities spring from the streets and in squares like so many umbrellas of refuge and rebellion. This can be a way to re-read the history […]

Memes and Fables

Memes and Fables: …tick tock Newspaper, blackboard ink, chalk and screen print. 2021 70cm x 54.5cm Memes and Fables: …tock tick Newspaper, blackboard ink, chalk and screen print. 2021 68cm x 55.5cm Memes and Fables: …wicked Newspaper, blackboard ink, chalk and screen print. 2021 70cm x 57.5cm Memes and Fables: …let it be Newspaper, blackboard […]