Portfolio - Jabu Arnell

Portfolio 1967
Artist: Jeff Wall; after “Invisible
Man” by Ralph Ellison, the
Prologue 1999–2000; Transparency
in lightbox 1740 x 2505 mm
Ralph Ellison’s 1952 novel Invisible
Man centres on a black man who,
during a street riot, falls into a
forgotten room in the cellar of a
large apartment building in New
York and decides to stay there, living
hidden away. The novel begins with
a description of the protagonist’s
subterranean home, emphasising
the ceiling covered with 1,369
illegally connected light bulbs.
Experiment 2007, p. 40-41
NikkerFlikker, 2005
There is a parallel between the place
of light in the novel and Wall's own
photographic practice. Ellison's
character declares: ‘Without
light I am not only invisible, but
formless as well.’ Wall’s use of a
light source behind his pictures is
a way of bringing his own ‘invisible’
subjects to the fore, so giving
form to the overlooked in society.
Read and see more in the
resources section on pages 4-7
The VT, p. 44-45
Murder on the Catwalk, p. 24
- present
What’s in a Name?
Everything?
Or
Nothing?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4637ez3-as
1
Untitled, 2005
Venus Williams

2 3

Junior, sometime between 1968 and 1969
Monologue Sandy Williams, Blue Velvet, 1986
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmQ_1sXZJxI
"Bidibidobidiboo", `Maurizio Cattelan In the Hood, David Hammons
-‘Why Jabu?’ -’Because my name is Jabu’ (1991)
De Kalb Ave., Brooklyn, NY; Chip’s brownstone apt.
Donna and Junior,1982
excerpt of interview with Jeff Wall in Museo magazine
DS: About being a "painter of modern life," I see that in
many of your works. But does that hold true for a work
like "The Giant" with its digital manipulation.
JW: I like the term "painting of modern life," but I don't
use it as a formula, as total identity. It's a very interesting
way to think about what you're doing. Basically it means
using the standards that have emerged over a long
time, very high standards one hopes, and the memory
that recognizes the existence and importance of those
standards, and applying it to the now. That doesn't mean
that "painting of modern life" means just "scenes off
the street." It means phenomena of the now that are
configured as pictures by means of this accumulation of
standards and skills and style and so on. That means that
there are no single themes, genres, or anything else that
[could] be called "painting of modern life." "Painting
of modern life" is an attitude of looking, reflecting,
and making. So I think that ihThe Giant,li which is an
imaginary scene, is a painting of modern life. It originated
in my imagination, and my imagination is in the here and
now, in the same way that something I might see in the
street is here and now. Baudelaire's art ideal was a kind of
fusion of reportage with what he thought of as the "high
philosophical imagination" of older art.
DS: So, plausible and implausible imagery would be
equally appropriate to you in terms of image-making?
JW: Yes.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach,; photography Russell Munson
‘Art is the only thing you cannot punch a button for. You must do
it the old-fashioned way. Stay up and really burn the midnight oil.
There are no compromises.’
- quote Leontyne price -
4 5
Felix Gonzalez-Torres(1957-1996)Untitled (Oscar Wilde)’95
Untitled (Perfect Lovers), 1987-90
Felix Gonzalez-Torres
To Repel Ghosts,’81
Jean Michel Basquiat

Me and Edimar Macedo chasing the Moon, Barcelona, January 2005
Lighthouse, Galicia, Spain, 2004
Dried Flamboyant flower, St. Maarten, 2007
Bliz-aard Ball Sale, 1983, David Hammons
Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach
‘Nigger Arabesque’ , Jean Paul Goude
First Holy Communion, 1974-’75
Graffiti, Barcelona 2004
Gordon Matta Clark ‘House Splitting’ , 1974
6 7
My mother (right), with relatives, in my grandfather’s house; date: ?

8 9

Untitled (Selfportrait) front or back, 2004 Untitled (Selfportrait) front or back, 2004
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Out of Memory
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I can’t be frank with you
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Poema 20, Pablo Neruda, 1924
Charles Bukowski
Continued from page 6, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach
i am light headed
headed for light
crazy about this flight
slight sights of your site
slits of lights
my propellers flutterring -trembling at these heights
when because and how
ripples of music are going to my toes
trebble bass boom bang ping
trng ppring clink clank pangs and pangggggssss
tidididididididiididdi
bzzzzzzzzzwizu
tea spoons banging in the wind
t-t-t-t-t-t....
zuzuzuzuzozozozzo
whispers kisses to my soul(ttattatataataa)
electric charged butterflies
lights flickering at high voltage
bubbles filled with giggleszzzzzzrrrzrzrrzzrz-aaaawwwwrrrr!!
rrhhhaaaa rrhhhaaaa rrrhhhaaaaaa!!!!
special notes that bounce up and down my spine around my tummy
flutter..fritter...a clutter of butterflies razor blades of light
a larva of lights
hot blood churns and burns and tingles
these parts are bedazzled trinklets in the wind
everything pops...
little and big flowers with syrups
sparkling wetness
thirst quencherrrrrrs-there may be diamondzzzzaaah- my sight is
blinded in this violent whirwind
my arm raw from your gnawing
like all your love has been injected in to my ____
light headed self
throbbing with this sharp pain
and the softness of your wind kiss
your light touch
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Identity can be such a dog
Installation by Berlin-based artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset
26 27

Untitled (Brinta Man), 2005
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Untitled, 2005

Untitled, 2006
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Changing the Rule, 1995, Anthony Murrell
Terry Adkins, 1994
The problem with integration, 1993, Anthony Murrell
36 37
Untitled (Applying the Rule), 2006
Allochtoon telefoon - dat die hollanders afgesloten
they
het niet snappen
weet je als je is
owe You’re Dutch, you
Allochtoon Dutch passport 118
Ik niet
Nederland Een goed land Mijn tweede land
Ik herhaal: 118 Not everybody wants that
Ondertussen groeien mensen op met complexen en frustraties
You know what they tellin we as
foreigners?
Foreigners out already
dangerous
It going to be
here in holland boy
Mijn kracht
wake
We know what fuckin time of the day it is
Ik zie het
Wake up up.
Ik weet niet, in this country I don’t know
Oh i love that woman
I know what they’re trying
Ik begrijp haar niet
What goes around comes around
Het is goed voor haar, het is goed voor haar, I’m sorry
Untitled, 2006

Flight, 2006
38 39

Experiment 2007
Dames en heren. Ladies and gentlemen. Observe before you: Exhibit 1. Experiment 2007. To the core, to the core. Identified object, Experiment 2007. Blue line between life and death.
Seems able to sustain life with little to no attention. Blue line between life and death. Experiment 2007. Cannot be vitiated. Ladies and gentlemen. Life expectancy below average. Life
endurance above average. I repeat: life endurance above average. Dames en heren. Observe before you: experiment 2007. Cannot be vitiated. Last registered movement observed by the
dominant eye: minus 24 hours. Exhibit 1. A specimen pastiche. To the core, a specimen pastiche. Eliminate credulous tendencies towards exhibit 1. Appellation allochthonous ungrounded.
Exhibit 1: possibly the seed of internecine national conflict. I repeat: possibly the seed of internecine national conflict. Eliminate
credulous tendencies towards exhibit 1. Hybernation is a covert preparation for a more overt action. Hybernation is a covert
preparation for a more overt action. Hybernation period may end at any moment. Hybernation period may end at any moment.
Hybernation period may end at any moment. Hybernation period may end at any moment. Dames en heren. Ladies and gentlemen.
Observe before you: Exhibit 1. Experiment 2007. To the core, to the core. Identified object, Experiment 2007. Blue line between life
and death. Seems able to sustain life with little to no attention. Blue line between life and death. Experiment 2007. Cannot be
vitiated. Ladies and gentlemen. Life expectancy below average. Life endurance above average. I repeat: life endurance above average.
Dames en heren. Observe before you: experiment 2007. Cannot be vitiated. Last registered movement observed by the dominant eye:
minus 24 hours. Exhibit 1. A specimen pastiche. To the core, a specimen pastiche. Eliminate credulous tendencies towards exhibit
1. Appellation allochthonous ungrounded. Exhibit 1: possibly the seed of internecine national conflict. I repeat: possibly the seed
of internecine national conflict. Eliminate credulous tendencies towards exhibit 1. Hybernation is a covert preparation for a more
overt action. Hybernation is a covert preparation for a more overt action. Hybernation period may end at any moment. Hybernation
period may end at any moment. Hybernation period may end at any moment. Hybernation period may end at any moment. Dames
en heren. Ladies and gentlemen. Observe before you: Exhibit 1. Experiment 2007. To the core, to the core. Identified object,
Experiment 2007. Blue line between life and death. Seems able to sustain life with little to no attention. Blue line between life and death.
Experiment 2007. Cannot be vitiated. Ladies and gentlemen. Life expectancy below average. Life endurance above average. I
repeat: life endurance above average. Dames en heren. Observe before you: experiment 2007. Cannot be vitiated. Last registered
movement observed by the dominant eye: minus 24 hours. Exhibit 1. A specimen pastiche. To the core, a specimen pastiche. Eliminate credulous tendencies towards exhibit 1. Appellation
allochthonous ungrounded. Exhibit 1: possibly the seed of internecine national conflict. I repeat: possibly the seed of internecine national conflict. Eliminate credulous tendencies towards
exhibit 1. Hybernation is a covert preparation for a more overt action. Hybernation is a covert preparation for a more overt action. Hybernation period may end at any moment. Hybernation
period may end at any moment. Hybernation period may end at any moment. Hybernation period may end at any moment. Hybernation period may end at any moment.
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The Voice Transformer 2008
(female voice)
-hello
-you keep coming here and asking me these strange or maybe not so strange and dangerous questions
-maybe I love to be thrashed by a man of your caliber once in a while
-I love aggression maybe, as long as it’s not life threatening I guess
-be nice
-make me feel comfortable
-did you have dinner alone?
-the reason I sent it to you is because hardly anyone knows it
-i’m going to get me a drink
Double Bubble, Maja Bajevic, 2001
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Stills taken from video ‘The Voice Transformer’ , 2007

A Kind of Black (only tomorrow counts)
(before) (after)
50 51

Experiment 2008
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Discoballs 2, 3 & 4
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