The Address

30" x 40"

Diasec and inkjet prints

2007

The photographic series, The Address, looks at the TV set of the televised presidential address in Pakistan, the blue background curtain, a portrait of Jinnah and the Pakistani flag. The placement of the three elements changes slightly with every successive government and every successive speech, but the elements remain the same.

These elements have also come to be synonymous with the periods of anticipation and anxiety in between moments of national historical significance, when these otherwise banal elements lie in wait to be reinstalled. The announcement of a presidential or ministerial address brings with it a sense of foreboding, anticipation, jubilation or fear, contingent on the political conditions of the time. For once the whole nation is unified in this one moment of TV watching.

In the tradition of trompe l'oile paintings used as backdrops in Portrait studios, the artist commissioned a background painting resembling the set used for televised Presidential speeches. A 'film' of this simulated set was displayed on TV sets in various public places (barber shops, electronics malls) in Lahore and recorded in photographs.

The photographs while attempting to examine the symbolism of a loaded image, leave the viewers (both within and outside the photographs) caught in a before, after or perpetual moment by leaving the seat empty. The work hopes to raise questions about the relationship between civil society and the ever-changing face of political power in Pakistan.