« LÀ-BAS. »

Since 2004 Saâdane Afif has been asking writers and artists to write lyrics inspired by his artworks. This simple experiment rapidly turned into something with a greater importance. The texts not only questioned the notion of interpretation and commentary on a piece of art: they also became a fundamental material of Afif’s artistic practice. After repeating this gesture over one hundred times, it became obvious that the text should be embodied. Saâdane Afif thus directed public performances to give the texts life through a singing or talking voice.

In 2014 Afif produced two installations exploring the notion of identity through the question of being « here »and « there », being « from here » and « from there ». Two identical sculptures representing replicas of a lamppost from Düren’s train station.
-including a signboard of the name of the city and miniature speakers that transmit live announcements from the station
-have been presented simultaneously in the Leopold-Hoesch Museum Düren and at the 8th Biennale of Berlin under the titles « Ici. » and « Là-bas. ». The identical lyrics written about these artworks were presented on the walls surrounding the sculptures, under the title « Ici. » in Düren and the title « Là-bas. » at the 8th Biennale of Berlin.

In 2017, the parallel exhibitions were reactivated in the Leopold-Hoesch Museum Düren and in La Panacée, Montpellier, France. This time Afif gave the « Ici. » lyrics to a musician based in Germany, Anas Maghrebi and the « Là-bas. » lyrics to a musician based in France, Pierre Peres, to put them into songs.

Two final evenings staging a double concert by the musicians at the Black Sheep, Montpellier and a few weeks later at Volksbühne’s Roter Salon, Berlin, finally unified the here (Ici.) and the there (Là-bas.) in a symbiotic moment. This vinyl embodies the reunion of this two performances.

Limited edition of 300 copies
Producer: Saâdane Afif
Lyrics Records
LR.008-2018
Badstr.19 – 13357 Berlin
© Saâdane Afif and Pierre Peres. 2018