Lawrence Abu Hamdan: Air Pressure (A Diary of the Sky)

A close investigation of aerial war and atmospheric violence through artist Lawrence Abu Hamdans newly commissioned audio and video installation This publication documents the creation of a new work by artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan (b. 1985) for the Future Fields Commission in Time-Based Media. For this commission, Abu Hamdan has developed an ambitious multichannel sound installation and singular film derived from ongoing documentation and analysis of Israeli Air Force violations of Lebanese airspace. The film features narration in Arabic, presented in English in this volume, that elaborates on the artists research methodology while chronicling the details of these acts of aerial and aural trespassa diary of the sounds, subjects, and powers that turn the air violent. The publication also includes a conversation between Abu Hamdan and Ghalya Saadawi that explores the tension inherent to a violence that is both exceptional and routine. An essay by Marina Peterson situates Abu Hamdans work within the broader artistic and scholarly study of noise, political violence, and air pollution. Contributions from Irene Calderoni and Amanda Sroka introduce the commission and detail other works in the artists larger Air Pressure project. Together these texts position the commission as a continuation of Abu Hamdans rigorous investigations into the political dimensions of listening and the role of sound as a tool that can be used to silence, suppress, or heal. Distributed for the Philadelphia Museum of Art Exhibition Schedule: Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin (November 3, 2022February 26, 2023) Philadelphia Museum of Art (Spring 2024)