Lawrence Abu Hamdan

This programme of video and audio works by artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan investigates the intersection of sound, the built environment and political contexts. Abu Hamdan works across different media; his projects often take the form of audiovisual installations, graphic and photographic works, audio compositions, essays, lectures and performances.

Subject-specific, the recent video Rubber Coated Steel (2016) features a sound analysis of recordings of the gun shots that fatally wounded two teenagers on the occupied West Bank, incorporating Abu Hamdan’s academic work with Research for Forensic Architecture at Goldsmiths, University of London.

The earlier sound work Language Gulf in the Shouting Valley (2013) exemplifies his interest in the acute interplay of the voice in 21st century politics as the Druze community living between Palestine, Israel and Syria, depicted over various recordings.

This screening presents a unique opportunity to view and listen to the several pieces of the artist’s work in the auditorium-like environment of the ICA Cinemas.   

Programme (total running time 60 min)

• Language Gulf in the Shouting Valley, 2013, sound, 14min
• Rubber Coated Steel, 2016, colour, sound, 22min
• Shudder the Thought: A Near Future Fiction in Stereo Sound, 2015, 9min
• The All-Hearing, 2014, colour, sound, 13min  

Lawrence Abu Hamdan holds a master’s degree in Research for Forensic Architecture at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he is also a PhD candidate and is a fellow at the Vera List Centre for Art and Politics at the New School, New York. He has made sonic analyses for legal investigations at the UK Asylum Tribunal and advocacy for organisations such as Amnesty International and the Defence for Children International. In 2016 Abu Hamden was the recipient of the Nam June Paik Award and is currently shortlisted for the 2017 Jarman Award. He is currently a resident on the DAAD residency programme in Berlin.

Recent solo presentations took place at Maureen Paley, London (2017), Contra-Diction: Speech Against Itself (performance), Le Centre Pompidou, Paris, France and Earshot, Portikus, Frankfurt, Germany (both 2016). He has participated in group shows including The Image of War, Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm, Where do I end and you begin – On Secularity, Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art 2017 and No to the Invasion: Breakdowns and Side Effects, The Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, New York, among others.