Linda Abdullah
Chicago, IL
EVICTION NOTICES
Ink and plaster, 8” x 11”
The Eviction Notices project is an attempt to contribute to an ongoing investigation of the Israeli occupation in the West Bank. The work consists of stacked broken blocks that mirror the construction process of the Israeli settlements that are built on top of the ruined, the demolished and the displaced. The heaviness of receiving a demolishing and eviction document is reflected in an 8” x 11” block.
The Eviction Notices project investigates the inscriptions embedded in the construction of settlements in the state of Israel. An online research via eBay Inc. revealed documents dated from 1920 – 1945 including maps, master plans, eviction orders, and demolishing notices (Shoshan, 341). This research has also led to discovering the first cement factory Nesher that provided the raw material to construct and expand the settlements in Israel.
SHIFTING GROUNDS
Concrete, wood, arduino, video, 42” x 70”
Shifting Grounds consists of 15 concrete tiles with Arabic words engraved on each tile. Each word refers to a spatial practice that allows for the occupied space of the West Bank to happen. The metaphor of a moving tile evokes the continuous movement in the Israeli spatial practices resulting in a landscape in transition.
In Arabic the words read: 01 Partial checkpoint | 02 Checkpoint | 03 Observation tower | 04 Road block | 05 Earth mound | 06 Outpost | 07 Buffer zone | 08 Barrier gate | 09 Area A | 10 Seam zone | 11 Bypass roads | 12 Road gate | 13 Settlement | 14 Separation barrier | 15 Military base.
Artist Bio
Linda Abdullah is an interdisciplinary artist, designer, curator, and daughter of Historic Palestine. Linda majored in Visual Communications at the American University of Sharjah (UAE) and received an MFA in Interdisciplinary Art Media and Design from OCAD University in Canada. Her critical graphic design practice examines social, cultural, and political identity through the lens of diaspora, displacement, and intellectual exile. Linda exhibits her work regularly and recently had a visual poem about Gaza featured in the Chicago Reader; she currently resides in Chicago.