Khan teams up with Bolivian video artist Jo Ta for the first Manila Biennale "Open City 2018"
with their site-specific audio & video installation "Phone Cue"
Phone Cue describes the line of actors, activists or participants waiting to enter the scene, the magic circle, the state of action.
It is an archaic space, the one that used to be the fireplace. Here, people gathered and stories were told. Magic and music were the phone line to the gods. The beat of the drum synchronized our minds and bodies with the stars in the sky.
Today we barely see the stars. Bright city lights bleach the skies. We rather look at the glow on our cell phones. Today's stories are told on our Facebook walls. The gods we evoke come as shiny electronic gadgets. We dance in line on eBay, we leave our marks on Instagram.
The modern city is the place of desire. We come to meet our dreams. A dream that seems to expand endlessly and is shared by millions. Still we feel isolated.
Phone Cue would like to propose that we have a choice and there is an alternative to a normative, commercialized life, were citizens are seen as “purchasing power”. We do not stand in line for the summer sale, we stand in line to dance and celebrate life in the city.
“Before we had to believe it, now we have to pay for it”
for more info about Jo Ta click image
