Mona Hatoum

Mona Hatoum - Entrails Carpet, 1995

silicone rubber

Firstly I saw this floor sculpture: I knew the concept from the web, as I was trying to understand similar works of Carl Andre. A sculpture is a place, that was the idea; the vertical dimension had become no more necessary. Later I tried to understand a work of Rob Pruit, his Cocaine Buffet; this was more than the pure Minimalism of Carl Andre; it was using the concept of Andre within the ambient. I will come back to all this.

Now I was in front of the carpet created by Mona Hatoum. No more Minimalism here: the artist was very clearly present in his work, communicating bluntly all her dreads. Splendid color and seductive material in an intestinal shape. The paradox of a soft carpet that it would be painful and repulsive to walk on. Different from the Minimalism of Carl Andre while also different from the Cocaine Buffet of Rob Pruit as it was not an Installation: the carpet of Mona Hatoum wasn't in need of an ambient, it was self-sufficient.

It was at Hirshhorn. In the same room another artwork of Mona Hatoum, this bed:

Mona Hatoum - Web Bed, 2002
steel, rubber, wood

Again, a strong feeling of uneasiness. Not a bed to sleep in. A bed offering no refuge, rather suggesting a close space with no escape.

The works of Mona Hatoum are on display at great modern art galleries, like White Cube and Tate Britain in London; familiar objects made strange and scarry: Mona Hatoum is a Palestinian and all dramas of her people are exposed in her art. Here are some images and quotes:






(Hirshhorn Museum)

(Contemporary Art)