Ebti​​

Pages 68-71

Translating and reciting texts is part of my practice. When I was approached for this project the first thought I had was how we as people in general rarely read laws, even the ones that directly affect our lives. We read about them and talk around them but never really read them. It makes sense, the legal jargon is hard and convoluted, so we depend on the analysis of others and form our own opinions based on that. 

I decided to simply recite and record the pages assigned to me. In the recording I am struggling to pronounce many words and needless to say I understood maybe half of what is in those 4 pages. Regardless, I felt empowered reading the text out loud and sharing it with you. The performance score serves as documentation to my process and it is an invitation to take a closer look at laws in general. I know I will.

Bio

Ebti is a multidisciplinary artist, a self-taught photographer and a translator living between Cairo and San Francisco. She received her MFA in Fine Art from the California College of the Arts in 2021.

"My practice is informed by translation, languages, theater, literature, music and my family’s making-traditions I never got to learn. Through this multifaceted, dislocated lens I look at the idea of home, belonging, and attachment. Though my work is rooted in photography, I am constantly looking for new materials and methods that will best translate my ideas. Once I start working on a project, I embrace notions of accident and failure. My practice is ever-evolving and is influenced by my restlessness."