Degenerative Disarrangement, 2013
Interlock pavement bricks
4.06m x 5.58m
Courtyard, House 33, Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood
SIKKA 2013
Commissioned by Dubai Culture & Arts Authority
‘Degenerative disarrangement’ is a process installation composed of pavement bricks uprooted from a public site and relocated to the courtyard of House 33. At the original site of the bricks, the paint ran in parallel yellow lines. This project originated after observing pavement bricks that are arbitrarily rearranged after repair works on city streets. The scrambled patterns inadvertently occur, as it is complicated to reassemble the original pattern considering the rapid pace of work and automated approach of the workers. Once a brick is shifted, it is most likely to be misplaced forever.
Replicating this method, the project was entirely completed by masonry workers within the demanding time constraints they routinely face. The artist had no input or control over the arrangement. The process of this project generates a loss of the original context. This in turn opens up a dialogue of how cultural identities disintegrate, ideologies pixelate and how the changing times threaten preservation. In our predominantly fluctuating environments this work speaks of a mind/collective that struggles to hold integrity. The installation is an attempt to render an irreparable condition.
This project was supported by the RTA. Sincere thanks to Mr. Musab Yahyia Al-Asawedh, Senior Projects Engineer - Road & facility maintenance department
In 2017 this project was exhibited at La Biennale di Venezia at the National Pavilion of the United Arab Emirates, for the exhibition 'Rock, Paper, Scissors: Positions in Play' curated by Hammad Nasar.
