Mona Hatoum – born 1952

Measures of Distance 1988

 Mona Hatoum left Beirut in 1975 for a short visit to London. When war broke out in the Lebanon she found it impossible to return. In this video, letters from her mother in Beirut, written in Arabic, move across the screen. They are read aloud, in English, by the artist. Hatoum's mother is also heard, speaking openly about her feelings and sexuality, accompanied by images of her in the shower.

 Hatoum's video suggests exile and displacement. She has said it also challenges 'the stereotype of Arab women as passive, mother as non-sexual being'.

http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=26675&tabview=image

This work is fascinating and is very poignant and there is a beauty and openness reflected within the piece. What is truly sad but inspiring is how separation due to distance and cultural differences is united through this compelling piece.

richard billingham : 

'untitled' / 'ray's a laugh',

1995 © richard billingham courtesy scalo books

'my father raymond is a chronic alcoholic.

he doesn't like going outside, my mother elizabeth hardly drinks,

but she does smoke a lot.

she likes pets and things that are decorative.

they married in 1970 and I was born soon after.

my younger brother jason was taken into care when he was 11,

but now he is back with ray and liz again.

recently he became a father.

'dad was some kind of mechanic, but he's always been an

alcoholic. it has just got worse over the years.

he gets drunk on cheap cider at the off license.

he drinks a lot at nights now and gets up late.

originally, our family lived in a terraced house,

but they blew all the redundancy money and, in desperation,

sold the house. then we moved to the council tower block,

where ray just sits in and drinks.

that's the thing about my dad, there's no subject he's interested

in, except drink.'

'it's not my intention to shock, to offend, sensationalise,

be political or whatever, only to make work that is as spiritually

meaningful as I can make it -

in all these photographs I never bothered with things like

the negatives. some of them got marked and scratched.

I just used the cheapest film and took them to be processed

at the cheapest place. I was just trying to make order out of chaos.'

http://www.designboom.com/eng/funclub/billingham.html

I was shocked by the work of Richard Billingham and yet have a bit of understanding especially living in this area and seeing what I see within this neighbourhood. Incredible candid viewpoints of a life existing solely because of addiction to alcohol.