Laissez-Moi Danser, 2017. High-definition single-channel video (colour), 1/1 (Ed. of 1 + AP) / 2min., loop.
Work in progress, RCA, various dimensions. 2016-2017
French-Egyptian icon, Dalida, voice of a generation, beloved across the Arab world, sings Laissez-Moi Danser. Let me dance. The screen splits: Minecraft on one side, real photographs of conflict zones on the other. The pixelated and the documentary, the constructed and the actual, placed in permanent collision.
The music is interrupted by breaking news, by the sound of roaring jets and exploding bombs. The song resumes. The interruption returns. The body insists on dancing. The world insists on war. Neither yields.
The news could be from any conflict, any year. The song could be from any era. The collision between them is permanent.