"THIS FOOTBALL SEASON,
Uuri 1
ANY SANDWICH
FACING PAGE: A pair of scanograms from Dor Guez's
The Sick Man of Europe: The Architect
dier's life, as well as introductory text,
Guez's piece lets viewers experience
the Ottoman Empire's transforma-
tion into the Republic of Turkey as a
much older Kemal looks back on the
young architect's life. Following the
end of World War II and the death
of President Ataturk, Kemal P. never
works as an architect.
"Kemal is an important subject,
but he is not somebody who would
be [spotlighted] by a lot of people
Haines says. "He was an architecture
student in the late 1930s and was con-
scripted into the Turkish army in the
1940s.
"He had exciting ideas in an excit-
ing time during the history of Turkey
but not much materialized for him,
although he was speaking to a moment
of hope and promise. His story is one
that people can relate to:'
Exhibited in the Department of
Education and Public Engagement
(DEPE) Space, where learning and
conversation about complex social
issues related to Detroit communities
are encouraged, the piece shows how
written history often clashes with the
personal stories of individuals — here,
exhibit components blur the categories
of perpetrator and victim, soldier and
citizen.
"With the mixed aesthetic tools
included in this installation, I think
visitors also are prompted to consider
their own experiences:' Guez explains.
"I believe it is a sensual as well as an
intellectual experience.
"The process started five years ago,
when I participated in the Istanbul
Biennial, and I worked with the archi-
tect for a few years:'
Guez, the son of a Jewish-Tunisian
father and a Christian-Palestinian moth-
er, relates to both religions and often
explores issues affecting minorities.
"I experience religion as a cultural
practice so I practice both Judaism and
Christianity:' says Guez, founder of the
Christian Palestinian Archive, which
holds scans of early 20th-century doc-
uments of the worldwide Christian-
Palestinian community.
"My installations combine diverse
modes of video and photographic
practices. The work raises ques-
tions about contemporary art's role
in narrating unwritten histories and
re-contextualizing visual and written
documents:'
Guez, in his 30s and the youngest
department head at the Jerusalem
academy, has been represented
through exhibitions in more than
25 museums worldwide. Those
institutions include the Institute
of Contemporary Arts in London,
the Center for Contemporary Art
in Tel Aviv, the KW Institute for
Contemporary Art in Berlin and
the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis
University in Boston.
The artist, who earned his bachelor's
degree in fine arts (concentrating
on photography) from Bezalel, holds
master's and doctoral degrees from Tel
Aviv University. His research projects
have been devoted to archives from
the region.
Guez hopes The Sick Man of Europe
series, exploring how wars left their
marks on artists who stopped creat-
ing once they became soldiers, will
encourage viewers to consider how
religion, nationalism, culture and mili-
tarism influence each other.
"A great part of my project relates to
questions of forming a nationality in
the Middle East so I believe it relates
to both Islam and Judaism in diverse
ways:' he says.
Haines has been impressed by the
use of story and storytelling devices
in this exhibition. Joining the artist
in Israel and Detroit to map out the
arrangement of exhibition segments,
she also has taken note of Guez's ear-
lier installation devoted to an Israeli
soldier.
Haines learned about MOCAD
while working on a project at the
Shanghai Biennale, which opened in
2012. While setting up the Pittsburgh
Pavilion, she connected with people
setting up the Detroit Pavilion.
"I had worked with Jens Hoffmann,
MOCAD's curator-at-large who also is
deputy director of the Jewish Museum
in New York:' Haines explains. "I talk-
ed to him about Dor's series, and he
suggested I get in touch with MOCAD.
"I've done a lot of work that has to
do with bringing together places that
are seemingly different from each
other. For China, I worked with an
artist to bring one person's items for
an estate sale so viewers could under-
stand the history of the city through
what one person accumulated.
"I'm very interested in artists who
hold a real sensitivity to text, history
and history writing, and I think that
comes across in Dor's exhibit, which
is an entry point for understanding
the history of modern Turkey on one
hand and a poetic tribute to one man,
Kemal, on the other hand7 *
JUZ I 0-LigItlf"
SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS TIL SUPERBOWL
TREAT YOUR TEAM TO A
TAILGATE TACKLE
$39 serves 6-8
X 2 pounds of your choice of meat
1 loaf double baked hand sliced rye
tv
'
1/2 pound sliced cheese
X X X
X
x
x
x
1 quart either potato salad or tole slaw
mustard, mayo & Russian dressing
and of course... PICKLES!
ORDER AHEAD - 24 HOUR NOTICE IS APPRECIATED!
PLAZA DELI
t. 248.356.2310
29145 Northwestern
IE Plaza-Deli.com
Southfield, MI 48034
PlazaDeliMichigan
Catering Available
for Any Size
• Party or Event
Book Your Holiday
unch or Dinner Party
With Us Now.
Holiday Gift Card
Promotion
Buy a $50 Gift Card and
eceive a $10 Bonus Card.
free appetizer
with purchase of 2 entrees*
(Sun-Thu Only)
*Must present coupon. Not valid with other offers or prior purchases.
Expires 12-31-2015.
XensteiZrille
food & cocktails
Commerce Twp. 248-624-4100
ensteiZrille
food & cocktails
.fi
oar • ommerce
Between Maple and Glengary
248-624-4100
Mon.-Thurs. 4-10pm • Fri. 4-11pm • Sat. llam-11pm • Sun. llam-8pm
www.bensteingrille.com
iJ
2038890
November 19 2015
69