The first striking thing about British artist Julie Oxenforth’s video installation at Artellewa art space is its simplicity.
In contrast to the long title, “A Moving Sea between the Shores of Our Own Souls” — the phrase comes from Khalil Gibran’s famous poem, “The Prophet” — the exhibit itself is short and, at first glance, basic.
Upon entering, a video of a bag dangling in an empty kitchen greets the viewer. Sounds of clashing waves fill the background. A breeze manipulates the bag, twisting it, swaying it, and rocking it back and forth.
Nothing actually changes as the viewer keeps watching — sometimes the bag’s swaying gets a bit more severe, other times it just dangles — but the video nevertheless invites meditation. Shoes must be removed before entering. The studio’s soft carpet and a curtain shading the video from the busy district solicit a state of quiet contemplation.
As one continues to ponder the meaning of it all, more details become apparent, complicating the video. This is not just any bag — it’s a gift bag with a heart stenciled on the side, a caption reading “Love,” and an image of a pair of wedding bands. But, based on the bag’s movements, it is empty; missing whatever gift that first required it. Likewise, the kitchen’s paltriness invites speculation.
The shelves and counters are bare, except for a dusty electric kettle, some neglected Turkish coffee pots, and many, many empty liquor bottles. The kitchen’s wall is dirty white, matching the color of the wall it’s projected upon, minimizing any division between the world of the video and the viewer’s.
The space itself — and Oxenforth chose Artellewa deliberately — serves the exhibit in other ways as well. The exhibit room opens onto a bustling Cairo street, separated only by a thin black curtain, and the complex (and loud) noises of the city mix and mingle with the simple, soft sounds piped into the room. Once this combination has settled with the viewer, the exhibit no longer seems so simple, nor so peaceful.
A text, meant to be read upon finishing the viewing, offers some insight into Oxenforth’s thought process.
“The image is a commercial depiction of a romantic love, a gift bag which may have contained a present but is now hanging empty in the kitchen of a deserted beach cafe,” the caption reads. “The wind blows through the space reactivating the bag into a spiraling dance of seemingly random movement, the image redolent of love and loss, time spent and used.”
The caption goes on to explain that Oxenforth intended to use the video to inspire “mimetic engulfment” (the term belongs to art writer Claire Bishop) for “fragmenting the ego … creating a vehicle for the viewer to lose the self.”
Hamdy Reda, owner of the Artellwa Art Space where the exhibit is displayed, said the video’s ambiguity is part of its charm.
“I don’t think about this,” he said. “I just watch it… I like the simplicity of her choice.”
He believes the video needs some time before its full depth is grasped.
“The piece is in need of some meditation,” he said. “You need some quiet for reading it.”
Reda said he sees the piece as part of the “El Estehlak” movement.
“El Estehlak,” which in Arabic means “consumption,” is an art movement seeking to critique the increasingly profound role corporate consumption plays in daily life. In Oxenforth’s piece, the abstract concept of love is scrawled on a shopping bag, which once contained a store-bought, very non-abstract, gift.
Reda said the exhibition has been greeted with a variety of critical response.
“One hundred and fifty people have visited the exhibit in the first two days,” he said. “Some artists like it. Some find it boring. Others say it seems nice, but a bit unfinished — maybe the artist should have worked a bit harder [those who criticize the piece feel].”
The exhibit has also generated a good bit of traffic from non-traditional art goers as well. Reda said their response has often been “somewhat confused” but he thinks that’s OK.
“The purpose of art is to ask questions,” he said. “Not to give answers.”
Oxenforth has been working as an artist in Egypt for the past three years. Currently, she lives in Dahab. Her background training is in painting and figurative sculpture, but she has since branched out into mixed media installation art.
“A Moving Sea between the Shores of Our Own Souls” closes on April 30. Artellwa Art Space: 19 Mohamed Ali Al-Eseary, Ard-El Lewa, Giza. Tel: 012 596 3611. Every day from 5 to 10 pm except Saturdays.
