The Otolith Group

The Otolith Group would like to take your heart
Two things come to mind here :
1) The tragic story of Saartje Baartman, and the French racist anthropological tyranny that she was subjected to - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saartjie_Baartman
2) The poet Shelley whose heart refused to burn when he was cremated

Jalal Toufic

Black Holes Radiate Lovingly

Lina Saneh asked me, as well as other artists, to sign one of her body parts. I, who is not only an artist but also a writer and thinker who neither curses nor uses unseemly language, have chosen to sign the phallus implied jointly by her play Appendix and her oft-repeated exclamation ayrî fîk (I thrust my penis in you/my penis is inside you) when addressed to her husband, Rabih Mroué.

Click on the pictures to read the full text.

Jacko Restikian

Je n'ai pas vu ta performance puisque je suis à Montréal. Ça fait quelques années que je collectionne des cheveux. Je ne prendrai pas les tiennes pour la seul raison quand nos cheveux sont attachés à notre corps on les aime, les accepte et les esthétise, quand ils quittent notre peau ils traversent la beauté vers le dégoût. Bon je sais que tes cheveux sont frisés alors contiennent pas mal d'espace vide! Je prendrai l'air inter cheveux ou bien l'air au pourtour de ta tête.

Jacko Restikian

Lina

My name is Lina and I would love to sign one of your ears, votre oreille droite si vous êtes gauchère, ou alors la gauche si c'est l'inverse. J'aime bien l'aspect incontrôlé de l'audition, et je le devine renforcé dans ce cas... I've always thought that if I had to choose, the sense I would least mind loosing is that of hearing. An ear detached doesn't hear, but becomes a surface for a signature, and also a potential slate for letters and words to slide into visually.

Lamia Joreige

J'ai choisi ta bouche comme oeuvre artistique, alors je signe ta bouche; cela comprend l'idée de bouche et les parties qui la constituent, c'est à dire tes lèvres. Sans raison apparente, je sens que ta bouche plus qu'autre chose dans ton visage, exprime au mieux ta personnalité. C'est à travers un mouvement unique et indescriptible, proche de la grimace, que ta bouche dit le dégout, la lassitude, et même l'agacement, et plein d'autres choses encore...

www.lamiajoreige.com

Critical Art Ensemble

We would like chromosome set 23. It is the chromosome of gender expression. While it is supposed to be a biological mechanism of either/or consequence, it's final manifestation is often not so clear. It is yet another site where flesh, desire, and culture clash.

CAE

Walid Raad

Since we meet occasionally -- as opposed to often -- on those occasions when I am in Lebanon, or when we both happen to be in the same city/town/village somewhere in the world, we usually greet with Lebanese kisses. I would chose that gesture, your gesture, that accompanies these kisses, when you flick your hair away from your face with that quick left/right jerk of the head. When we meet after a long absence, I always try to approach you slowly when I am about to greet you with three kisses, so that I can actually see this gest, and to see if you might do it twice should your hair dare to cover your face before our kisses meet.