REVIEW: Nour Mobarak: “Intermissions” at The Renaissance Society

Renaissance Society interior on the night of the Nour Mobarak performance, photo by Michelle Kranicke.

REVIEW
Nour Mobarak: Intermissions
Co-presented by Lampo and The Renaissance Society
Live Performances Sat. 6-9pm & Sun. 3-6pm
The Renaissance Society
5811 S Ellis Ave
Chicago, Il 60637
Sat., Nov. 12–Sun., Nov 13, 2022 (This event has already happened.)

By Michelle Kranicke

Stepping into the empty gallery at the Renaissance Society a woman wearing a flesh colored unitard with sheer plastic-like pants, tan running shoes and a headband with a small tracking system attached was walking, with purpose, around the edge of the space repeatedly singing “on the street”, “on the street”, “on the street,” “on the street”. The four sides of the space were lit in red mixing with the late afternoon autumn light coming through the windows. In addition to her voice the space was filled with an electronic soundscape. You were immediately engulfed in the sonic sensory atmosphere Nour Mobarak had constructed. The co-produced event merged the Renaissance Society’s Intermissions, a series devoted to performative works staged in the Society’s empty gallery space between exhibitions, and Lampo’s long running performance series dedicated to experimental sound. As the durational performance taking place over 3 hours unfolded (3PM-6PM) the sound and the space become more saturated as the sun set and the walls and annex spaces went from red, to blue, to purple, to green, to yellow, and then back to red again. During this time Mobarak moved about the space, on the periphery, in the center, touching different X marks on the floor, at a constant speed triggering different sounds compiled from what seemed to be a large sound bank of complex languages and other possible noises and effects. Occasionally, she stopped at a microphone to add her voice to a loop. Her volume was sometimes loud and sometimes whispered and sometimes in a foreign language. When she did venture from the edge to the center of the room it was unclear whether those actions changed the soundscape or triggered additions to it.

Nour Mobarak was born in Egypt and lives in Los Angeles and Athens. She “works across sound, performance, video, sculpture and writing.” In watching, one could not help trying to figure out what movement caused what sonic effect. It appeared her movement was behind the shift in sound mix and light, but we were also informed in the program that she has “turned to the human body as instrument and her movement in the demarcated space activates the system.” Did the pink tape along the outermost edge create some reverb or phase effect? When she stepped on the blue X’s along the west side of the gallery did that add a new sound into the mix? When she walked along the edge of the green tape further in from the outermost edge did that change the lights? The taped grid — was it a mapping system to enable the audience to measure the mover in space? Were the coordinates tripping mechanisms for the sound tracking system? Each taped pathway seemed to have a very specific purpose — and they may have had one, or maybe not at all — one doesn’t know. It was, at least for me, a puzzle that I could not solve. And I spent a lot of the time trying to figure out what the movement was meant to trigger within the sound mix, how the body and the idea of sculpture came together and, if those things were not connected, what made the movement in and of itself compelling and why was it the necessary catalyst? Not that the purpose of the movement needed to be completely understood, but it seemed from the description of Mobarak’s work and her emphasis on the location of her body in space that she hoped that some connection might be made. And, when she made any type of movement besides walking it was unclear what elements — sound, location in the gallery, the need to elicit another effect by changing a level in space — lead to those movement choices. Did there need to be a departure from the simple walking patterns that obviously created the vibrant aural atmosphere?

The sounds, Mobarak’s voice, the lighting of the gallery and the taped markers and grid on the floor were enough to make an interesting and engaging experience. It is less clear why the body, and movement, were set forth as equal with the other elements of the piece. It seemed as if, at times, Mobarak did not trust the sound and the atmosphere. But the live component of her voice did not need the superfluous extra movement that popped up from time to time. The simple effect of walking was enough. During the 90+ minutes I spent at this durational performance (there was one the previous evening) the sun set, the space became saturated in colored light and sound, and I closed my eyes to let a visceral experience come into prominence. I let go of trying to figure out how the movement was changing the sound and light. Mobarak’s sound compilations and vocal additions along with the austere environment saturated in various colors was satisfaction enough. The addition of movement, outside of simple walking, took one out of the sonic sensorial experience the other elements of the work were building. Maybe the kinetics could be the providence of the viewer as many in the gallery changed positions, levels, speeds and location in the room as they participated in a personal experience of the work.

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