Alex Ayed’s practice is an intricate and conceptual kaleidoscope of the intentional and accidental, living and static, fictional and real. Working in sculpture, installation, assemblage and photography, the French-Tunisian artist “lets things happen” in his surroundings, travels and experiences which he then translates to into playful and poetic objects and constellations, placed inside walls, corners or shelves in the exhibition spaces. Dried-out insects, bits of marble, a stuffed fox, a dead fly, Tunision olive oil soap, present in his works, tell personal stories, as well as allude to the questions of migration and movement, exploration, conquest and trade. Leaving space for the unknown, failure and lack of meaning, Ayed approaches his exhibitions as single works in themselves. Continuously transforming the spaces, inviting the local neighbourhoods, crediting 36 pigeons, two dogs and a snake that contributed in the exhibition-making, he creates assemblages from assemblages. Ayed’s practice is inherently unpredictable, with his works often creating meaning on their own through chance and context. ...
