ZIZ at Atelier Arthur Rogiers
I see no God up here
video stills
I see no God up here is a new installation of 4 videos, weaving a narrative around the Old Testament monster Ziz and the importance of ‘the skies’ in recent global histories.
Ziz, with Leviathan and Behemoth, is part of a trinity of monsters, the latter two synonymous with power and empire, as well as megalomania and the grotesque. Countries that expanded via land routes were written about as ‘Behemoth’, the king of the mammals, while sea trading countries as ‘Leviathan’, the king of the fish.
Since the era of the USSR – USA Space Race, the third monster, Ziz, king of the birds, has come out of its obscurity. Controlling technology and media from the skies above, Ziz orbits the world as a battery of satellites transmitting waves of information.
I see no God up here is the first chapter in an ongoing series about the mythical creature, offering yet another world-historical meditation.
Tweeeet, tweeeet, tweeeeet
Video and bird sculptures
(Clay, nail polish, electricity wires)
Space Dubris
Video of sculptures in front of spacescapes
(Clay, tiles, nail polish)
windscape park proposal model for the Benhaddou Aït oasis, Morocco. A river of life, as described in Ezekiel 47, that flows out of the abandoned movie prop, the Porte des Arabs of Lawrence of Arabia.
(clay, ytong, wood, model paint, nail polish)