Ruins of the Present
In a country like Lebanon, plagued by war, tensions, instability, crises, the common denominator of all these events is the ruins. Often they are of destroyed or unfinished buildings found all over the country. These ruins become a representation of the political, economic, and social realities of the place and a reflection of people’s attitudes toward the future. As ruins are a byproduct of events that have happened and are still happening, the future is held captive by the past. And so, on the ruins of the immobile present, ordinary life tries to continue its existence.
1. Lebanese civil war 1975-1990
2. War with Israel, 12 July 2006 - 14 August 2006
3. Beirut port blast, 04 August 2019
Ancient ruins often reveal the history, social and class structures, belief systems, cultural landscapes, and philosophies of past civilizations. Modern ruins tell the story of the present. With the permanent crisis in the world today, the situation can be described as apocalyptic, so ruins are a symptom of today’s civilization. This suggests that disaster is a sign of the modern world, and we are forced to live in it. Subsequently, it becomes an inescapable part of our everyday life which takes on a distorted form.
construction debris, found objects
2022
The collected debris mainly from construction sites are quasi-functional by being turned into domestic devices. The objects are composed in such a way that they can collapse at any time, to remind us of the fragility and instability of the apocalyptic situation in which we live today.
