“FORMations” by Jude Abu Zaineh

Title:

FORMations

Artist(s) and People Involved:

Exhibiting Artist(s):



• Jude Abu Zaineh -
  • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA

Symposium:

• ISEA2024: 29th International Symposium on Electronic Art

Venue(s):

• WebXR on the Styly platform

Artist Statement:

FORMations reflects the natural ecology of food and flora in the regions between the traditional lands of the Kanien’keháka and Muh-he-con-neok people (Upstate New York) and the territory of the Anishnaabeg people of the Three Fires Confederacy (Southwestern Ontario)—two areas the artist frequents. Sampling the earth, indigenous and collected plant species, and leftover foods,
FORMations examines the constant evolution within the timescale temporalities of an ever-shifting cultural and geographical landscape. The petri-dish environment makes visible the invisible by providing a medium of growth for the microbial and bacterial communities that naturally exist within food and our overall surroundings. This enclosed environment gives metaphorical and visual connections to the often ignored or erased narratives and the layered complexities of hybrid existences that many newcomers (human and nonhuman species) experience in their respective, evolving habitats.

The work gives a visual nod to the artist’s cultural heritage in referencing geometric forms found in South West Asia and North African architecture and Islamic art, while acknowledging the larger
landscapes, foods, resources, and diverse ecosystems that make-up Southwest Ontario & region.