What if we wake up one morning and gravity is gradually increasing? Made pre-pandemic, Basim Magdy's most recent super-16mm film M.A.G.N.E.T. (2019) imagines a fantastical world not too far from the one we are currently living in, though just as catastrophic. While the mock disaster that struck is of a slightly different kind than the one(s) we are facing, M.A.G.N.E.T. dwells on questions just as pertinent, asking among others, what adapting to a completely new life could mean for humankind as things weigh heavier and heavier each day. In addition to this rumination on forces that surround us and the desire to make sense of this chaos, the artist is also showing polaroids and paintings in his fourth solo exhibition at artSümer, titled "A Dot in a Pool of Broken Sound Waves." In his signature blend of subdued absurdist narrative, the idiosyncratic technicolor universe of pickled film, and what seems to be a growing interest in retro-fitted science-fiction, Magdy presents a palatable disaster scenario, while maintaining the mystery around its timing: are we diving into the distant past, projecting into the future, or merely looking in the mirror?
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