Communication Room
2017
commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation
March project
Often utilising communication methods of the past, The Communication Room (2017) is an installation composed of four artworks, Mailing System Rearrangement, Everyone is the Author Here, 06- 544 757 and Never to be opened. The works explore how modes of communication connect disparate places and times, even though individuals may be physically separated by great distances. For Nasrallah, the capacity to bridge great intervals of time and place through modes of communication is integral to exploring notions of existence and matter. While addressing various communication systems and their impact on their surroundings, Nasrallah’s project examines how these systems can ultimately create new stories and imaginary worlds that circumvent conventional understanding of space and time.
For Mailing System Rearrangement, 225 envelopes on which Nasrallah illustrated a variety of sketches were deposited separately in red letter mailboxes located throughout Sharjah. As the intended sender and receiver, Nasrallah organised the envelopes into murals according to the order in which he received each one. A new order is created by a system beyond the artist’s control, revealing the influence of space and time on the illustrated envelopes and creating a new composition that differs from the original.
Everyone is the Author Here is a participatory work in which visitors contribute to the authorship of one story. Unlike handwritten documents, where the distinct penmanship of individuals is evident, a typewritten manuscript allows the writers to remain anonymous. The majority of writers will not know each other, but participating in the creation of a narrative forges links between strangers.
06-544 7575 is a participatory work comprised of a telephone locked inside a wooden box with only the handset accessible to viewers. The work’s title reflects the telephone’s number, which the artist has shared over social media platforms and other communication channels in order to reach a wide public. People are able to call the telephone and talk to strangers who happen to pick up the phone ringing in the exhibition space.
Never to be Opened explores the dream and impossibility of time travel through the presentation of two sealed envelopes. One is only to be opened in the past, and the other is only to be opened in the future. However, since we can neither revisit the past nor transport ourselves into the future, neither envelope can be opened. In our present, the past and the future remain out of reach.
2017
commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation
March project
Often utilising communication methods of the past, The Communication Room (2017) is an installation composed of four artworks, Mailing System Rearrangement, Everyone is the Author Here, 06- 544 757 and Never to be opened. The works explore how modes of communication connect disparate places and times, even though individuals may be physically separated by great distances. For Nasrallah, the capacity to bridge great intervals of time and place through modes of communication is integral to exploring notions of existence and matter. While addressing various communication systems and their impact on their surroundings, Nasrallah’s project examines how these systems can ultimately create new stories and imaginary worlds that circumvent conventional understanding of space and time.
For Mailing System Rearrangement, 225 envelopes on which Nasrallah illustrated a variety of sketches were deposited separately in red letter mailboxes located throughout Sharjah. As the intended sender and receiver, Nasrallah organised the envelopes into murals according to the order in which he received each one. A new order is created by a system beyond the artist’s control, revealing the influence of space and time on the illustrated envelopes and creating a new composition that differs from the original.
Everyone is the Author Here is a participatory work in which visitors contribute to the authorship of one story. Unlike handwritten documents, where the distinct penmanship of individuals is evident, a typewritten manuscript allows the writers to remain anonymous. The majority of writers will not know each other, but participating in the creation of a narrative forges links between strangers.
06-544 7575 is a participatory work comprised of a telephone locked inside a wooden box with only the handset accessible to viewers. The work’s title reflects the telephone’s number, which the artist has shared over social media platforms and other communication channels in order to reach a wide public. People are able to call the telephone and talk to strangers who happen to pick up the phone ringing in the exhibition space.
Never to be Opened explores the dream and impossibility of time travel through the presentation of two sealed envelopes. One is only to be opened in the past, and the other is only to be opened in the future. However, since we can neither revisit the past nor transport ourselves into the future, neither envelope can be opened. In our present, the past and the future remain out of reach.