Fix It
2004
The work is displayed as part of the permanent exhibition
Installation
Mixed media installation
Factory fixtures and furnishings, light bulbs, programmable lighting equipment, electric cable, amplifier, mixer, 2 speakers
Variable dimensions
Loan from Hellenic Cultural Organisation to EMST, within the framework of the Cultural Olympiad
Inv. No. 533/04
Ever since the late 1980s, Mona Hatoum has been employing simple material forms, such as light and sound, in order to explore the phenomenology of space and matter, as well as issues related to the systems of social control, confinement, displacement, subversion, and disorientation. The outcome of this creative process is the construction of architectural spaces marked with ambiguity. Fix It is an in situ installation which took shape in 2004 as part of the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST) Transcultures exhibition. Wishing to preserve the memory of an industrial urban landscape in decline, the artist creates a well-defined space (dimensions: 6×10 m) using a fencing of wire mesh. Within this space she places rusty factory fixtures and furnishings, cauldrons and other containers, shelf units, lockers, cables, and more. These items had been found on the premises of the old Fix brewery, an industrial building which was renovated in order to house the EMST. Behind the wire mesh, light bulbs go on and off, alternately shedding strong and flickering light, and producing buzzing or screeching sounds which take the visitor aback, while at the same time generating an impression of dysfunction, along with a claustrophobic feeling and sense of anxiety. Through this disruption of balance and multiple shifts —light/darkness, decline/rebirth, order/disorder, motion/ stillness— the artist invites the audience to partake in contradictory emotional experiences and readings.
Anina Valkana, ENTER EMST: Collection and history, A short guide, 2020