Mona Hatoum

Description

Through performance, video, sculpture and installation Mona Hatoum immerses her audience in emotional and psychic states - as they take a journey through all the orifices of her body; watch her "drowning" in mud in a glass box; or walk down a long tunnel towards a light which literally will burn them. Whilst her video work is often visceral and emotive, her sculptures and environments are ultra cool and minimal in their aesthetic. They often mimic domestic or institutional furniture yet their designs and material have a threatening edge. This text argues that Hatoum's works can be seen as powerful evocations of statelessness, anxiety, denial and otherness. The book is part of a series of studies of important artists of the late-20th century. Each title offers a comprehensive survey of the artist's work, providing analyses and multiple perspectives on contemporary art and its inspiration.

Table of contents

Michael Archer interviews the artist who describes the chronology of her practice; Guy Brett explores the key themes that emerge from the artist's work; Catherine de Zegher makes a complex and provocative analysis of "Recollection" a work she commissioned; Mona Hatoum has chosen a text by the influential Palestinian author Edward Said and a statement from the noted Italian post-war sculptor and performance artist, Piero Manzoni; the artist's writing section contains scripts from performances, two interviews with the artist and proposals for projects.