RANT by Hassan Khan

8/7/2019 RANT by Hassan Khan

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Hassan Khan

RANT

1A. This white space is a stage Ð a platform thathighlights and draws out a set of materialconditions and coldly inspects them. This virtualspace is inhabited by an androgynousprotagonist with a specific sense of fashion. Thefigure is the subject, is the engine that powersthis investigation Ð our focal point, the sitethrough which a concept can be allowed toappear. The ground is the context Ð the white

space, the white table, the stage of phantasms.The subject is enframed, is charged with aconcept of a self, of a persona performed. Thisspace is a metonym Ð a moment that partakes ina condition, a fragment rather than a symbolstanding for something else.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊHere, everybody rants the secret moment.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ1B. How do we survive the poisoned glance,the uncomfortable handshakes, the innuendos ofundeserved arrogance? We might recognize thatintroverted scenes produce bile and hysterical

defensiveness, yet we remain unable to discoveralternatives Ð this is not that alternative, butonly the chance to go into free fall. We begin witha scene at the end of its limits Ð a scene unableto go beyond the sound of its own insecure high-pitched neurotic voice, a scene on the brink ofimplosion. The members of this scene are stuckbetween a craving for validation and approvaland the fallout that accompanies unrequiteddesires. The individuals belonging to this grouphave to live off two systems at the same time, allfurther complicated by the specificity of thesceneÕs own demand for validation (distinct fromthe demands of the individual member), and thuswe get the hustlers and liars who all want a pieceof the cake Ð those willing to market theirbackgrounds to the nth degree to the lazy smugself-satisfied arrogance of an internationalcounterpart that is still not able to come to termswith what the Òflow of informationÓ really means.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ2A. A rant is a hyper-expressive condition Ðutterances shoot out at an accelerated pace, thesubjectÕs delivery outstrips its desires, the

expression is caught up in its own presence andfails to reflect oneÕs intention, hence the stutterand the breathlessness of hyperventilation. Weare therefore always one step behind. Here, whatwould normally take less than a minute is sloweddown to a dense narcotic six-minuteconfessional and stylized disclosure. Therhetorical construction of a speech act unfoldsover a numbed-out musical composition.Although the nature of causality treats eachutterance as more than only itself, we have herea syntagm that derives its polyvalence from its

material conditions Ð from the conditions of itsappearance.

e-flux journal #2 Ñ january 2009 Ê Hassan Khan

RANT

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ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ2B. In this scene, personal relationships areself-righteously confused with professional onesÐ every participant is placed under the regime ofa moral conformity in which the gestures ofpolitical engagement and high-level personalbickering become more or less the same thing. Ademand is therefore made on every participant,every unwitting masochist, to perform the rituals

of allegiance to the master order of the set.Trapped in a vertiginous spiral, we seek theglamour of a moment as our only salvation. Theperformances of belonging promise but neverdeliver. With pleasure, we watch friends,competitors, and enemies writhe in poorlyconcealed discomfort. The emotional conditionsthat rule the relationships built within that sceneare by necessity thus polarized. We have acontradiction that is not just an arrestedmoment, but a contradiction that is aboutstructure rather than appearance. Thus,

negotiation is key.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ3A. The isolated details that punctuate theconfessions of our protagonist are reminders of abiological reality Ð a presence that is not merelya material condition, but also a symptom of thatcondition. The condition however remainsmystified, and we are left with only traces of apresence Ð the weight of an arm resting on atable, the piercing gaze of an eye. The subject isspecter-like, with no real solidity, and theprotagonist thus has no interiority, no exteriorityÐ these words become linguistic tropes ratherthan actual dimensions. The protagonist is only acipher for a set of existing relationships Ð acipher defined by the impossibility of possessinginteriority with its own fully valid independentvoice. The subject is a product, a surface, whichdemands new framing devices. These are not justaesthetic choices Ð they are strategicnecessities.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ3B. The actions of the ruthlessly ambitiousdemand a price that not all are willing to pay.

However, in such a space choices are limited.Performed gestures of bonhomie andcamaraderie go hand-in-hand with the well-placed whisper, the sidelong glance, and the halfsmile. The emotional mess of raised voices,boasts, half-truthful claims around the post-opening dinner table is only one more thing to getthrough. But more importantly, what kind ofaesthetic choices do these conditions lead to?Something must be fetishized, and in this casethe easiest target is the softest one. Thus thedowntown cosmopolitanism of the hustler, the

obsession with the nostalgic chandelier, thesuperficial binaries of contemporary and

authentic, and most of all the insistence thatcontradictions exist Ð these are all maladiesrelated to this condition.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ4A. The rant is a literary form that finds itsspecificity in its own excess. The more one rants,the more the rant comes into its own. This is aform that is always about convincing oneself of

oneself, just as it is about convincing itself of itsown discursive formation. It is an argument thatbegins and ends with the self Ð a monologue thatspirals inwards towards an anticipated yetfeared apocalypse. We tremble between twoposited spaces Ð what for argumentÕs sake wewill call external and internal spheres, divided bya thin skin. The laceration of that skin, a form ofself-mutilation, is the trace of that tremulousstate of being. The blaming of the self, a sense ofinadequacy, an insecure, vicious fragility, are thefirst steps towards an overblown, yet fully

operational persona.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ4B. It is possible that we are all caught up ina vortex driving us towards a moment of silencein which the ego ends as our careers die. Whatcan easily drive us insane is the continuousinsistence by members of the group to sellsomething based upon a valency that ultimatelydevalues the self itself, both confirming andignoring the truism: ÒWe do not provide servicesÐ we are the service itself.ÓÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ

ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ5A. That choreographed and slow collapseis predicated on a question that is also astatement. The question/statement formalizes aschizophrenic sensibility Ð what is not to berepresented, what one can only engage with. Thevisual code through which a generic speechpattern can be formalized will thus by necessitybe stylized. The rules that determine thisrelationship ensure that our identification withthe subject is not a sentimental one achievingcatharsis, after which one can drag with relish ona post-coital cigarette. Here, we must be willing

to pounce upon the weakness of the victim. Here,the victim is the predator.ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ5B. The inability sensed by members of thisgroup Ð that elusive slightly worrying sensibilityÐ is based upon the inability to grasp how asystem can never function only as an image ofitself. Like all good neurotic subjects, themembers of this scene are enamored withtheatrics, with atmosphere, with the image of awounded fragile ego on the brink. This is bestexpressed by the continuous litany of complaints

that most seem to indulge in with great pleasure.Latent, yet quite visible, is the need for self-


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Hassan Khan is an artist, musician, and writer wholives and works in Cairo, Egypt. Selected solo showsinclude Gezira Art Center, Cairo (1999), Galerie ChantalCrousel, Paris (2004), A Space Gallery, Toronto (2005),Gasworks, London (2006), Le Plateau, Paris (2007), andUqbar, Berlin (2008). Khan has participated in theIstanbul (2003), Seville (2006), Sydney (2006),Thessaloniki (2007), Contour (2007), and Gwangju(2008) biennales as well as the Turin (2005) andYokohama (2008) triennales amongst otherinternational group shows. As a musician he has

composed soundtracks for theatre and performed hisown pieces in such venues as Melkweg (Amsterdam),Lydmar (Stockholm), Babylon (Istanbul), Whitechapel(London), Cairo Jazz Club (Cairo), KBB (Barcelona),Strange Fruit (Beirut), SESC Sao Paolo (Sao Paolo),Podewil, Salon Bruit and HAU3 (Berlin), the Garage andACAF (Alexandria) and Point ƒphŽm•re (Paris). Hisalbum tabla dubb is available on the 100copies label.Khan is also widely published in both Arabic andEnglish


RANT

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08 20 10 / 16:37:59 UTC

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RANT by Hassan Khan