eL Seed unveils ‘Perception' at Art Dubai 2016, Global Art Forum

March 2016: Artist eL Seed is both humble and proud to unveil his latest project ‘Perception’ at Art Dubai 2016 at the Global Art Forum during an exclusive talk with Glenn D. Lowry, director of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

‘Perception’

Society has a tendency to judge upon their own paradigm, creating misconceptions that divide communities, which escalate and lead to social segregation and ultimately conflict.

In a new scope of work, eL Seed explores the topic of ‘perception’ by questioning the level of judgment and misconception society can unconsciously have upon a community based on their differences.

The project revolves around the Coptic community of Zaraeeb, in the neighborhood of Mokkatam Mountain in Cairo, who collect and sort by hand the daily garbage of Cairo in a highly profitable recycling system. Still the community is perceived as dirty, marginalized and segregated.

“The Zaraeeb community welcomed my team and I as if we were family. It was one of the most amazing human experiences I have ever had. They are generous, honest and strong people. They have been given the name of Zabaleen (the garbage people), but this is not how they perceive themselves. The Zaraeeb community is not poor but isolated, not marginalized but pushed away. They are just a reflection of our society. They don’t live in the garbage but from the garbage, and not their garbage but the garbage of the whole city,” says eL Seed.

To shed light on this incredibly close-knit community, eL Seed flew in a team of 21 people from all over the world and over the course of three weeks, created an anamorphic artwork that covers more than 50 buildings, visible from only one point on top of the Mokkatam Mountain, looking down on the city, making one complete circular art piece. The image was created using the addition of fluorescent white paint that was illuminated for one night only on the culmination of the project, for the people of the community.

The unique and breathtaking feat of art uses the words of Athanasius that say in Arabic: ‘anyone who wants to see the light clearly needs to wipe his eyes first.’

eL Seed uses the context of Zaraeeb to question our perception of people who were once part of the general community, but are now thriving beyond comprehension, and are yet still unfairly and judgmentally looked down upon by society, however conscious or unconscious of their actions.

The entire project was self funded by eL Seed and the organization and the planning took 1 year in total to realize. The project will be showcased in a documentary at a later stage and published in a book and comic for children.