Meriem Bennani’s work occupies the abstracted, speculative dimension of science fiction. Bennani became interested in the concept and feasibility of teleportation, as well as its relationship with issues of migration, during 2016. She considers how teleportation looks within the lens of geopolitics and, if bodies were able to teleport for one day, where would they go? How would this process be policed, and if teleporters were intercepted by law enforcement, where would they be held captive? In her films, Bennani mythologises and digitally renders an island in the Atlantic that would act as a ‘temporary’ holding area for captives. She fictionalises and weaves together a picture of the island’s ecology, visually realising the birth of a new culture that has emerged from the melting pot of diasporas held on the island. Bennani critically engages with the trauma and dystopia of border-crossing by creating and developing an elaborate and prescient analogy.
Written by Goldsmiths CCA ...
