Walid Raad
Walid Raad: Preface to the third edition.
Coupe II 2014, 3 D print plaster composite, paint
Panneau, 2014, Wood solid white oak
Chandelier, 2015, 3 D print plaster, composite, paint
Chapiteau II, 2016, 3 D print plaster composite, paint
Tile, 2017, 3 D print plaster composite, paint
Courtesy Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Hamburg/Beirut
Preface to the third edition, Acknowledgements, 2014 – 2017
When things are moved from one place to another, they remain the same – at least you would think. The Venetian chest from the 15thcentury, which now belongs to the collection of the MKG (and stands in the Mobile Worlds exhibition), is the same chest that a Venetian merchant once filled with who knows what. Or is it? Raad, a Research Fellow at the Louvre, observed a peculiar phenomenon: some objects from the Louvre Islamic Department, sent to the Louvre Abu Dhabi as part of a larger cultural exchange, changed shape during the trip. More precisely, they crossed with other objects, so that something new, third, emerged. They also lost their shadows, which the artist had to reconstruct using trompe l’oeil painting.