FORMations
Petri-dish samplings, agar, food, plants, soil
duration 00:05:40
2022-23
FORMations reflects the natural ecology of food and flora in the region. Sampling the earth, indigenous and collected plant species, and leftover foods, FORMations examines the constant evolution within an ever-shifting cultural and geographical landscape; the petri-dish environment makes visible the invisible by providing a medium of growth for the microbial and bacterial communities that naturally exist within food and our overall surroundings. This enclosed environment gives metaphorical and visual connections to the often ignored or erased narratives and the layered complexities of hybrid existences that many newcomer (human and nonhuman species) experience in their respective, evolving habitats.
Jude Abu Zaineh is a Palestinian-Canadian interdisciplinary artist, researcher, and cultural worker. Her practice employs art, food, and technology to investigate meanings of culture, displacement, diaspora, and belonging. She examines ideals of home and community while working to develop aesthetics rooted in her childhood and upbringing in South-West Asia. Abu Zaineh is the recipient of the 2020 William and Meredith Saunderson Prizes for Emerging Artists, and was one of the first selected artists to participate in a collaborative residency with the Ontario Science Centre and MOCA Toronto (Canada). She has presented her work at numerous cultural institutions including Cultivamos Cultura, São Luis, Portugal; Museu de Arte, Arquitetura e Tecnologia, Lisbon, Portugal; Centro de Cultura Digital, Mexico City, Mexico; SVA, NYC, USA; Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco, USA; Forest City Gallery, London, Canada; Art Gallery of Windsor, Canada; Centre Culturel Canadien, Paris, France; and Museum London, Canada. Her works are currently on view at the Museum of Glass, Washington, USA; and forthcoming at Light Matter Film Experimental Film & Media Art Festival, Alfred, USA; and 17 Days Video Series, Western Michigan University & Alfred State University, USA. Abu Zaineh’s works can also be found in the permanent collections of The Museum of Glass (USA), Art Windsor-Essex (Canada), The City of Windsor’s Public Art Commission (Canada), as well as private collections internationally.
Abu Zaineh received an MFA from the University of Windsor (Canada) and is currently a PhD Candidate in Electronic Arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (NY, USA) as a RPI HASS Fellow and SSHRC Doctoral Fellow.
She maintains an active studio practice between upstate NY, USA and Windsor-Essex, Canada.
http://www.judeaz.com
@judeaz_
17 Days Video Series 