For Those Who Can Not Sleep, 2021
Wood, leather, metal, carpet, bird of paradise leaves, brass, speaker, framed reproduction of A Glove–Anxieties by Max Klinger 1st ed. (pub. 1881) plate 7, looping soundtrack Kay’s Theme by David Julyan
This installation centers on a rotating circular bed, referencing Hugh Hefner’s iconic 1960s office-bed as a symbol of mediated heterosexual masculinity within the domestic sphere. The bed’s design, later appropriated in Egyptian television and cinema that the artist grew up watching, reflects the transnational circulation of visual codes of intimacy and desire.
By incorporating a reproduction from Max Klinger’s A Glove – Anxieties and a looping soundtrack of discordant melodies, the work invites viewers into a space where intimacy is continuously staged and unsettled.
The Mosaic Rooms, London, 2022. Photography: Andy Stagg
