Europe

Saâdane Afif

Pop (Blue Time)

2005

Saâdane Afif, Pop (blue time), 2005. Installation

Pop (Blue Time) is a song co-written by artists Saâdane Afif and Lili Reynaud Dewar. Collaborations are frequent in the work of the Afif, as is the case of the exhibition Lyrics which opened at the Palais de Tokyo in 2005, in which Afif asked artists and musicians to translate his artworks into song lyrics and interpret them. The lyrics written on the wall produced a silent story, in a musical way that remains implicit (unlike certain installations by the artist where lyrics can be heard on headphones). The writing in hologram print displayed on the wall recalls the iridescent surface of CDs. The refrain “I’ve be waitin’…” introduces temporality and musicality in the field of meaning. This song is a commentary on pop music with a meta-poetic dimension. It depicts the life of a songwriter: “I ‘ve been waitin’ for the producers […] I left home when I was a kid […] I’ve been on the road indefinitely […] I played in bars, hotels, parties.” Like in “Actualité” a 16mm film by Matthia Poledna from 2001, Saâdane Afif and Lili Reynaud Dewar paint a nostalgic and idealized portrait of the artist as a pop star.

Saâdane Afif’s multifaceted work draws on the know-how of craftsmen, musicians, and writers in collaborative projects that challenge the very concept of the unique work of art or the individual creator. Afif, who describes himself as a “talkative conceptual artist”, uses forms of popular culture, such as music, to bring people together in a shared moment of creativity. Through the exploration of different media, including performances, objects, sculptures, texts, and posters, the artist provokes both the collapse and the expansion of the notion of creative paternity.

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Saâdane Afif Pop (Blue Time)

Saâdane Afif

Pop (Blue Time)