Black Cube
Bookmess
Composition for Mondrian
Gold Fish
Beit al Kassid

Beit al Kassid
2003

A poem, written on a traditional Lebanese house facade (e.g. Zico house), in a way, that you can barely decipher the words. Yet, everyone would be able to decode the words, after a little effort of penetrating in his own memory. The poem should be a famous one taken from the Arab poetry heritage, (exp.: Al Mutanabbi),

The house as a house, is disconnected from its origin function and became a sculpture, alienated from its surrounding: the city (Beirut) which is subjected to different absurd visual forms. The poem is becoming an abstract, Visual Element.
One can see it as an attempt to translate a vulgar/simple and popular content to a visual object. Or as a publicity poster against analphabetism.
Or as a “robbery” of a western Art- form (graphitic) to increasing the noisiness of the illogical and chaotic imposed urbanism. But also as a “Monument” for the traditional Arabic poetry. Or simply, as a congregation of an -architectural- literature- visual Object/Artwork.

Salah Saouli, Berlin September 2003