«There is something analogous to this
scientific and fictional proliferation in fatmi's work,
in his use of different supports, in his back and forth
movements between different themes, his outlined,
reprised or abandoned narratives. In a way, we could
say that he appropriates the enigmatic discovery of
a form of energy that seems inexhaustible but also
uncontrollable - except that in his case the subject
is a metaphorical equivalent of the nuclear, namely,
desire and the irresistible attraction that it triggers.
But then is the difference really so great? What
matters, indeed, in both instances, is the moment
of unleashing, the moment that is not a moment,
between the before and the after - an imminence,
you might say, that is to say, a time-space without
real consistency, without real duration. What comes
next is a form of unfolding, with its options and
possible narrative trajectories. Before the reaction
is triggered, before the lips touch and nothing is
the same as before. Such is the kiss in the works of
the "Casablanca Circles" series. It is a catastrophe, a
rupture, the almost unassignable moment whereby
everything changes. The beauty of the thing is that
this around this impalpable non-moment so many
expectations and narrative possibilities are precipitated.
Countless underground connections appear,
crossovers, secret coincidences, so that in this work
there hovers a subtle perfume of paranoia.»
Régis Durand
