Perspicere: The Invention of Self, 2017 (Print Edition, 2021)
The project Perspicere: The Invention of Self focuses on a young man in Lisbon. Tony, the young man with the original name Aladje Muntaga Djalo is of African origin; he was born in Guinea Conakry and emigrated to Portugal a few years ago from the former Portuguese colony of Guinea Bissau. The photographs were taken exclusively in his private bedroom. By changing his clothing and his behaviour roles, different facets of his personality are being displayed, whereas the images shown appear to be partly personal and authentic, partly performatively staged.
The viewer can observe himself literally trying to get an idea of this person, who could also stand for ‘the African in Europe’.
The accompanying video essay mainly consists of detailed recordings of the protagonist. For this purpose, the camera moves in a macro manner over photographs of his body and his immediate surroundings, supplemented by urban exterior shots, acoustically interwoven with a voiceover from an essay text. His face is largely left out. Skin, clothing and surfaces are questioned in an almost cartographic way about their role as identity-creating codes. Fragments of his self-image and memories of his life story are paired with anecdotes about Lisbon‘s social flashpoint and the perspective on life itself. The artist herself also becomes part of the staging: her voiceover describes the encounter with the protagonist in fragments, almost like a dream and from several narrative perspectives.
The manner of recording makes it clear: this project is about perspective, which is sometimes a voyeuristic one. It is about the protagonist‘s perspective on himself, in the sense of - as the title suggests - invention of the self. But it is also about the perception and judgment of the viewer, who can observe himself during these activities. The viewer makes references to what he has seen, read or experienced and relates this to his own self and world view. In the end, an interplay emerges between the construction and the dissolution of identities, ideas and images.
The project examines phenomena related to postcolonial migration and the resulting perspectives on identity, hybridity, culturality and cultural code switching. We find a combination of a documentary approach, a supposed staging for the camera and an intertwining of the very personal as well as project-related encounter between the artist and the protagonist. The combination of a documentary and a fictional approach illuminates the complexity of the construction of the identity of the self and the other in the context of a globalized society.
Credits
Aladje Muntaga Djalo