Caramblogage

We have arrived in January, in Egypt, in 2011. Let's jump forwards to 2015 and move backwards from there. Keep in mind that this is mostly a view from outside the country that does not aim to provide a full overview, but rather a brief, personal summary of events. It has become very depressing to write about the country. After the initial elation and momentum behind the uprising, the energy and resistance to the power of the day, the hope seems to have been punched out of an entire people. Several reports describe the country as having slipped back into an authoritarian regime that is even more repressive that what the uprising throve to overthrow. The new regime, which many see as a recycled, refurbished version of the old one with a new coat of makeup, has not only developed miracle cures for AIDS and many other ills, it has also invented a time- machine intent on sending the country back into an age more reminiscent of feudal times than of the so-called democracies of the 21s...

A collection of things, both interesting and inflammatory I've been reading over the last couple of days. Make up your mind which is which. This media coverage is disgusting and does not lead to a productive debate- between individuals or groups, ethnic or political, leading to any change in perception. The solidarity shown by many media outlets, governments- and private people- is less than skin-deep, serving only to assuage their guilt, or to demonstrate their lack of it. What is quickly becoming obvious is a lack of grounded understanding of a) the motivations the publishers of the news sheet had in putting out their sometimes shocking, sometimes smart, sometimes crass magazine every month b) the very real pain and mourning of family members, relatives and friends to the dead c) the risks of free speech and self-expression, which by now, I believe the above understood fully d) the recent history of the publication, going back ten years or so, and the brand of humour the authors...

Projects are 0.1% inspiration 89.99% perspiration and legwork, 5.84% artwork, 27.2% communication, 52.3% endurance and the rest can be filled with shots of Tsipouro (or whatever hard liquor makes your brain cells buzz and of course, actual percentages may vary. Statistics are wildly unreliable…). Today, I'd like to focus on some of the 89.99% that are represented by the legwork involved in such an undertaking- some of the research behind the conception of this multidisciplinary project. In part, I'd like to do this to talk about the process, but also to give myself some critical distance from the depths of the project. As mentioned earlier, I've been documenting street art and graffiti for a number of years, meaning that I actually walk around cities looking for walls, galleries, little details that enrich otherwise barren facades and hidden messages shining through a coat of paint. It's a good way to explore the territories, both ideological and representational...