It was his first video. There is no sound. A man sits indoors on a white plastic garden chair, framed from the knees up. He wears a ruby T-shirt and streaked jeans. Black-rimmed eyeglasses hover over a broom-like mustache. To his right, a mound of cotton stuffing and a plate of glue lie on a table. The ensuing 8 minutes and 26 seconds of Cotton (2013) record Emirati artist Hassan Sharif grabbing handfuls of the fluffy fiber, dipping it in glue and reconstructing another mound on his lap. Throughout, he is absorbed by his task—mouth slightly open, eyes lowered. At the end of the film, Sharif leans into the freshly glued clump, clasping his hand to his forearm in a protective embrace. He stares, for the first time, directly into…
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ArtAsiaPacific (Digital) - 1 Issue, Mar/Apr 2017