I Hate Theatre, I Love Pornography

A shaky, unstable camera floats over blurred magazine pages and covers in an undisclosed, private location. The misty 8 millimeter film captures close ups of body parts, eyes, legs, and intimate scenes, while silent subtitles below begin to recount the story of a certain perverted uncle figure, Fayez Yassin, and his erotic escapades. The artist draws inspiration for this work from his own uncle, a once flashy persona who was involved in the shady businesses of Beirut in the 70s and 80s, even earning the title of ‘delight maker’ as he traveled with Saudi royals abroad to organise their parties and fun. In the following decade, he started working at an underground porn cinema, which wasn’t a rarity in the city as many middle-aged men and ex-civil war fighters frequented them. The artist recalls a time during his teenage years when he mustered the courage to walk into one of those theatres to watch a film, only to have a sudden awkward encounter with his uncle sitting right behind him.


Exhibition views - The Future is Nostalgic, photos by Vartan Avakian