Screening of 'The dog chased its tail to bite it off' (2021)

The dog chased its tail to bite it off (2021)
Alaa Abu Asad
9 November 2021

The third commission in the Psychic Refuge programme is a screening of GIFs by Alaa Abu Asad.

The commission stems from the ongoing research The dog chased its tail to bite it off - a research about the subject of invasive plants, their migration, and their socioeconomic, societal, and cultural influences on their “new” milieus. The research focuses on the infamous Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) and the language used to describe it. A language which is fraught with xenophobia and hate. A language which borrows its terminology from realms of military zone and war. A language which is often used to describe human migrants—a language that reveals the current human condition.

BIOGRAPHY
Alaa Abu Asad (عَلاء أبو أسعد) is an artist, researcher, and photographer. His practice is centred around developing alternative trajectories in which values of (re)presentation, translation, viewing, reading, and understanding can intersect. Language and plants are main themes in his research–based work, which takes form in writing, film and interactive installations.