Meriem Bennani Life on the CAPS (Paperback)

Meriem Bennani

ISBN 10: 0941548872 / ISBN 13: 9780941548878

Published by Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, Illinois, 2023

About this Item

Paperback. A catalog for an exhibition of the latest chapter in Miriem Bennanis CAPS film project. This first monographic book on the New York-based artist Meriem Bennani is built around her ongoing filmic project CAPS. Life on the CAPS is the latest chapter in the trilogy, set in a supernatural, dystopian future surrounding a fictional island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Layering live-action footage and computer-generated animation, Bennani adapts editing techniques that evoke documentary film, science fiction, phone footage, music videos, and reality TV. Her solo exhibition at the Renaissance Society marks the debut of this work considering what it is to live in a state of limbo. The first of the books two parts focuses on the making of the work in the exhibition and features aspects of Bennanis process, her inspirations, and research around the diverse worlds of island societies, science fiction, and vernacular music. This section will also feature essays by the writers Emily LaBarge and Elvia Wilk, along with a conversation with writer and curator Omar Berrada. The second part is rooted firmly in the world of CAPS and includes conversations with Bennanis cast of motley characters, as well as a piece of fan fiction by the writer Anand Balakrishnan. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780941548878

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Meriem Bennani Life on the CAPS (Paperback)
• Publisher: Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, Illinois
• Publication Date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0941548872
• ISBN 13: 9780941548878
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

A catalog for an exhibition of the latest chapter in Miriem Bennani’s CAPS film project.

Meriem Bennani is a Moroccan artist who lives and works in New York. Life on the CAPS is the final chapter in her film trilogy of the same name. Set in a supernatural, dystopian future surrounding a fictional island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, it is rooted in Bennani’s research and reflections on the histories of island societies, biotechnology, and vernacular music. Layering live-action footage and computer-generated animation, Bennani intuitively adapts editing techniques that evoke documentary film, science fiction, phone footage, music videos, and reality TV. Her one-person exhibition at the Renaissance Society marked the debut of this personal, electric yet melancholic consideration of what it is to live in a state of limbo, and this accompanying book captures the film through a combination of still images and selections from a transcript of the film.

Enacting a variety of cunning shifts, Life on the CAPS moves fluidly from the imaginary to the geopolitical and ranges from the microscopic scale of DNA to the global eye of surveillance. At the same time, it engages with the power of individual experience as well as the power of collectivity while building on an emotive, formal experimentation that refutes boundaries.

This volume includes transcripts of conversations between Meriem Bennani and Omar Berrada, Fatima Al Quadiri and Bidoun, Amal Benzekri, and Aziz Bouyabrine.
 

About the Authors

Meriem Bennani is an artist from Morocco who lives in Brooklyn, New York. Bennani’s work has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art, MoMA PS1, the Guggenheim Museum, Art Dubai, the Foundation Louis Vuitton, Public Art Fund, the Kitchen, and CLEARING, among other venues. 

Negar Azimi is a writer and editor-in-chief of Bidoun. 
 

Tiffany Malakooti is an independent graphic designer and head of special projects at Bidoun.