Mohamed Bourouissa

Untitled (Horse Day series)

In his photographic series Périphérique (2005–2008), Mohamed Bourouissa used the composition of classical paintings to stage the portrait of friends and young people in the banlieues (suburbs). He states “by deconstructing the clichés surrounding this subject, I deal with the problematic power struggle and its mechanics.” This series follows various themes explored throughout the work of Bourouissa. For Temps Mort his first film, he depicted a yearlong series of mobile phone exchanges with someone in prison. Bourouissa made a contract with the participant—phone credit in exchange for his participation in the project. Since this piece, he has consistently mediated on notions of exchange and the economy in his work. For L’Utopie d’August Sander, he met a number of unemployed people in a job center and invited them to get scanned in a van. With a 3D printer, each scan was used to produce a figurine that would be sold at various flea markets.