Joueur de flûte - Adel Abdessemed
Joueur de flûte - Adel Abdessemed

Joueur de flûte

Adel Abdessemed

In this video work, made in Lyon, a naked old man plays enchanting Berber music on a long wooden flute. The camera is placed very low, almost on the floor, making the musician look like a monumental statue, albeit one made vulnerable by a nudity that is in no way heroic. The flute player’s breathing mingles with the sounds of a melody whose lively pace is an invitation to dance. The music is festive, enlivened by the foot-tapping musician, whose weighty body acquires, at times, an unexpected lightness.
Joueur de flûte (“flute player”) is one of Abdessemed’s longest video pieces—the musician plays non-stop for thirty minutes. Messouad, the flute player, is an imam who ultimately agreed to perform after long discus- sions with the artist. Messouad appeared the following year in another video work by Abdessemed, Passé simple (1997). GC

1995 / Projection vidéo, 30 min. 10 sec. (en boucle), couleur, son
Dimensions variables (aspect ratio 4:3)