Fenced within the silent cold walls features a recreation of the artist’s former home in Iraq, to which his family are unable to return. As the camera moves through the derelict house, digital images begin to escape from a forgotten TV and computer screens, and materialise into living forms. These forces surge out in utter destruction, invading the domestic realm. A voice introduces itself as Al-Sabah’s grandmother who describes the burning of sentimental objects in the home before fleeing, leaving everything behind but her photographs. Reflecting on this childhood memory as an adult, Al-Sabah weaves imagery pulled from cartoons with paintings of his family portraits, deconstructing the links between fantasy and reality, the hero and the everyday, and make-believe and fact. With the support of Culture Ireland.
Film / video · Film / video