Artwork Details
- Artist Marwan Rechmaoui
- Title Beirut Caoutchouc
- Date 2004
- Medium Engraved rubber
Beirut Caoutchouc, 2004
Marwan Rechmaoui
Beirut Caoutchouch, 2004
Engraved rubber
Installation view
Sharjah Art Foundation Collection
Overview
Marwan Rechmaoui has meticulously sculpted a flattened floor map of Beirut in the form of a puzzle composed of 60 thick rubber pieces that correspond to the city’s 60 distinct quarters. While Rechmaoui’s mysterious blackened mass shows roads and highways that have been precisely etched into it and that mark off different neighbourhoods and areas, its primary concern is not to delineate Beirut as it is but rather to subtly raise questions about its present layout like who lives where and what has determined these divisions. Through Beirut Caoutchouc, the product of the artist’s mapping of the city’s socio-geographical distribution, Rechmaoui negotiates Beirut’s complex history and the urban schisms that have resulted.
Related
Rechmaoui, Marwan
Created from industrial materials such as concrete, metal, rubber, tar, textile, and glass, Marwan Rechmaoui’s work reflects his methodical study of cartography, demographics and urbanisation.