Arts Thread

The Illusion of Return is Refused is an attempt at retracing the bodies of the seventeen homes that Nabila has lived in, as objects through the theory of Peter Schwenger. It is a project exploring what it means to long for home, losing that comfort and familiarity, and using memory to create signifiers of the past, in order to represent them in a new context. The project thus combines highly personal approaches with theories derived from academia thinkers, in order to situate her artworks in both these worlds in productive and creative measure. The Tears of Things: Melancholy and Physical Objects (2006) is a philosophical and psychoanalytical theory written by Peter Schwenger, which discusses memory as a result of a loss or a lack due to a subject’s relation (or strive for relation) to an object. The longing and desire for material objects is, analysed by Schwenger, an attempt for the subject to find identity and familiarity. Without these objects, the attempt to create realization of our world would leave us feeling longing, and un-homed. The title of the body of work, The Illusion of Return is Refused is derived from this thought and is said through Schwenger’s theory, being that the object we desire cannot be possessed and that their presence can only be represented, not restored. This project looks at the notion of comfort and familiarity and speaks to Nabila’s home in conjunction with its lack. The space is eerily presented when perceived alongside the notion of home. There is an absence of colour as shades of grey consumed the viewer. Concrete is the core material used throughout the works, and therefore, creates this strange, cold atmosphere. Cement is associated with permanence. Whilst in this body of work, it is approached solely as a temporary substance. The cement is used in its original, sand form as something that can be disturbed and blown away, or it is built upon lightweight, cheap and temporary materials such as brown card and polystyrene. Thus, the use of cement in this manner removes its functionality and, therefore, the conceptualisation of an accessible home. The objects within the exhibition speak to the fact that there is no chance of recovery of the materials of the past, just as Peter Schwenger testifies to. The absence of the physicality and solidity of the home, makes the viewer more aware of it as we take in to consider the traces of what is left. This is an exploration and an attempt of restoration of the seventeen structures she, at some point in her life, had called home. Full text with all art works available: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vobjKtvbt7E7oE6eGHXlX1iWATOrCmLh?usp=sharing