3 Voids: Ink, charcoal, and intervention on paper, (90 x 120 cm), 2016
NEW RELIGION
The origins of the project emerged from the artist's experience living in Tangier, from a single night walk that revealed the stark geography of societal values. As he walked home one night, he saw a woman walking to the university along a dirt track with no lighting, a route that felt oppressive and unsafe. Walking further down the road, he was confronted by the football stadium, illuminated from all angles with full roads and paths providing easy access for anyone who wished to enter. This contrast became for the artist an example of where society invests money and value in ways that keep people controlled through the new religion of football, while education, which could emancipate and free minds, remains controlled and underfunded. The illuminated stadium and the darkened path to the university function as physical manifestations of priority, architectural statements about what deserves light, infrastructure, and investment.
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NEW RELIGION
The origins of the project emerged from the artist's experience living in Tangier, from a single night walk that revealed the stark geography of societal values. As he walked home one night, he saw a woman walking to the university along a dirt track with no lighting, a route that felt oppressive and unsafe. Walking further down the road, he was confronted by the football stadium, illuminated from all angles with full roads and paths providing easy access for anyone who wished to enter. This contrast became for the artist an example of where society invests money and value in ways that keep people controlled through the new religion of football, while education, which could emancipate and free minds, remains controlled and underfunded. The illuminated stadium and the darkened path to the university function as physical manifestations of priority, architectural statements about what deserves light, infrastructure, and investment.
read more
NEW RELIGION
The origins of the project emerged from the artist's experience living in Tangier, from a single night walk that revealed the stark geography of societal values. As he walked home one night, he saw a woman walking to the university along a dirt track with no lighting, a route that felt oppressive and unsafe. Walking further down the road, he was confronted by the football stadium, illuminated from all angles with full roads and paths providing easy access for anyone who wished to enter. This contrast became for the artist an example of where society invests money and value in ways that keep people controlled through the new religion of football, while education, which could emancipate and free minds, remains controlled and underfunded. The illuminated stadium and the darkened path to the university function as physical manifestations of priority, architectural statements about what deserves light, infrastructure, and investment.
read more
New Religion - To Break 3 - (74 x 110 cm) / 2010
FOOTBALL'S ALLURE AND SOCIAL VOID
Today, football stands as an improvised contemporary religion, a true unifying tool. Much like the monotheistic religions, the phenomenon of football and its influence on the masses distracts people from the opportunity gifted to them through knowledge and education. The state prioritises the funding of football over empowerment through education. Through a transdisciplinary approach, New Religion begins a redefinition of the concept of religious precepts that, throughout history, have brought masses together. Concerned about the potentially worrisome effects of this sport, El Gotaibi questions the irrational adoration it inspires, attempting to identify the void that exists in societies in which football is practiced as devoutly as any faith. The sport functions as distraction in the most deliberate sense, providing spectacle and collective experience while simultaneously diverting attention from material conditions that might otherwise provoke examination or resistance.
read more
FOOTBALL'S ALLURE AND SOCIAL VOID
Today, football stands as an improvised contemporary religion, a true unifying tool. Much like the monotheistic religions, the phenomenon of football and its influence on the masses distracts people from the opportunity gifted to them through knowledge and education. The state prioritises the funding of football over empowerment through education. Through a transdisciplinary approach, New Religion begins a redefinition of the concept of religious precepts that, throughout history, have brought masses together. Concerned about the potentially worrisome effects of this sport, El Gotaibi questions the irrational adoration it inspires, attempting to identify the void that exists in societies in which football is practiced as devoutly as any faith. The sport functions as distraction in the most deliberate sense, providing spectacle and collective experience while simultaneously diverting attention from material conditions that might otherwise provoke examination or resistance.
read more
FOOTBALL'S ALLURE AND SOCIAL VOID
Today, football stands as an improvised contemporary religion, a true unifying tool. Much like the monotheistic religions, the phenomenon of football and its influence on the masses distracts people from the opportunity gifted to them through knowledge and education. The state prioritises the funding of football over empowerment through education. Through a transdisciplinary approach, New Religion begins a redefinition of the concept of religious precepts that, throughout history, have brought masses together. Concerned about the potentially worrisome effects of this sport, El Gotaibi questions the irrational adoration it inspires, attempting to identify the void that exists in societies in which football is practiced as devoutly as any faith. The sport functions as distraction in the most deliberate sense, providing spectacle and collective experience while simultaneously diverting attention from material conditions that might otherwise provoke examination or resistance.
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Gathered Ball: 74 x 110 cm / 2010
THE BALL AS WEAPON
The sculptural work in this project is a concrete football with metal spikes, transforming a football into a weapon of mass destruction. The artist then rolls the ball across paper, bridging the tension of fragility of the mind and society with a harsh social construct. The paper has different symbols and metaphors drawn on it, such as apples, the brain, and world maps. The artist plays with the paper as a metaphor for the fragile society that football permeates as a new religion. As the spiked ball rolls across these drawn symbols, it punctures and perferates, leaving traces of violence that literalise the destructive path of this contemporary faith. The apple, symbol of knowledge and original temptation, becomes shredded beneath the weight of spectacle. The brain, representing thought and critical capacity, suffers similar violation. The world map, marking territories and borders, is penetrated by spikes that acknowledge no sovereignty beyond the universal language of the game. Each rotation of the ball enacts a form of erasure, demonstrating how this religion of distraction moves across the landscape of human consciousness, damaging what it touches while leaving indelible marks of its passage. Amy El Gotaibi
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THE BALL AS WEAPON
The sculptural work in this project is a concrete football with metal spikes, transforming a football into a weapon of mass destruction. The artist then rolls the ball across paper, bridging the tension of fragility of the mind and society with a harsh social construct. The paper has different symbols and metaphors drawn on it, such as apples, the brain, and world maps. The artist plays with the paper as a metaphor for the fragile society that football permeates as a new religion. As the spiked ball rolls across these drawn symbols, it punctures and perferates, leaving traces of violence that literalise the destructive path of this contemporary faith. The apple, symbol of knowledge and original temptation, becomes shredded beneath the weight of spectacle. The brain, representing thought and critical capacity, suffers similar violation. The world map, marking territories and borders, is penetrated by spikes that acknowledge no sovereignty beyond the universal language of the game. Each rotation of the ball enacts a form of erasure, demonstrating how this religion of distraction moves across the landscape of human consciousness, damaging what it touches while leaving indelible marks of its passage. Amy El Gotaibi
read more
THE BALL AS WEAPON
The sculptural work in this project is a concrete football with metal spikes, transforming a football into a weapon of mass destruction. The artist then rolls the ball across paper, bridging the tension of fragility of the mind and society with a harsh social construct. The paper has different symbols and metaphors drawn on it, such as apples, the brain, and world maps. The artist plays with the paper as a metaphor for the fragile society that football permeates as a new religion. As the spiked ball rolls across these drawn symbols, it punctures and perferates, leaving traces of violence that literalise the destructive path of this contemporary faith. The apple, symbol of knowledge and original temptation, becomes shredded beneath the weight of spectacle. The brain, representing thought and critical capacity, suffers similar violation. The world map, marking territories and borders, is penetrated by spikes that acknowledge no sovereignty beyond the universal language of the game. Each rotation of the ball enacts a form of erasure, demonstrating how this religion of distraction moves across the landscape of human consciousness, damaging what it touches while leaving indelible marks of its passage. Amy El Gotaibi
read more
3 Full: Ink, charcoal, and intervention on paper, (90 x 120 cm), 2016
3 Full: Ink, charcoal, and intervention on paper, (90 x 120 cm), 2016
Green stadium: charcoal and intervention on paper, (70 x 94 cm), 2016
Green stadium: charcoal and intervention on paper, (70 x 94 cm), 2016
