Red Chewing Gum
Duration: 10 min.
Production year: 2000
Media: DVD

Statement
It was my contribution to the Hamra Street Project, curated by Ashkal Alwan in 2000, reflecting on the rise and fall of this famed Beirut street. The project allowed for debate to take place on the street's pivotal history in the city and its present condition. I wanted to stage a scene of a boy chewing gum; videotaping this scene over and over, adding new information in each take, removing the viewer one step further away from the plot. The image of the boy chewing red gum becomes a recurring icon that acquires more meaning as the video unfolds. The work was conducted on two levels, adapting my personal interest in pursuit, as a structure, to my commitment to the nature of the street. The work plays on the theme of consumption which I found relevant to a commercial street such as Hamra.

Biography
Akram Zaatari, born in Lebanon in 1966, is a video artist and curator who lives and works in Beirut. In addition to his television and teaching experiences, he is author of more than 30 videos, and video installations. He is co-founder of the Arab Image Foundation (Beirut) through which he developed his recent research-based work on the photographic history of the Middle East, which was the basis for a series of exhibitions and publications. He has text contributions in scholarly journals such as Third Text, Bomb, Framework, Transition, and Parachute. He is a regular contributor in Zawaya.