Fascinated by the ideas and work of John Akomfreh. In an online conversation today with Olafur Eliasson, hosted by the Hirshhorn Museum, he talked about his multi-panel video and photographic installations. He likes to configure images to converse with each other. The viewer has to choose in each moment which panel to look at so sees a unique version of the story.
The 3-channel hypnotic installation Vertigo Sea focuses on the impact of humans on the oceans, and in particular the whaling industry. Thinking about this industry at its peak, he associates it with the trans-Atlantic slave trade, going on at the same time. His work also seeks meaning in the “unseen elephants in the room at the beginning of my life.” His example is growing up in London in a neighborhood dominated by a huge power station. He wonders why no-one ever talked about the pervasive carbon dioxide poisoning going on. He is “telling a story and un-telling story at the same time.”