How to Stop a Rock from Growing
Tarek Haddad & Laetitia Hakim (duo)
2019-2023
In the midst of the 2019 revolution, we started a conversation around the possibility of change. The spike of hope that had surged with the start of the revolution was met by a crushing disillusionment not long after. This realization led to a collaborative investigation of power dynamics, distancing ourselves from the event itself.
“How to stop a rock from growing” explores the dynamics of social and political change - or the lack thereof - in a minimal, decontextualized and abstract simulation of a rigged Rock-Paper-Scissors game where we inspect the consequences of having one of the elements missing. By limiting the game to only two options, we underscore how, in such situations, power dynamics can become unfairly skewed.
The body of work is a visual commentary on power struggle, fragility, and absurdity.
Power struggle studies the confrontation between rock and paper in a performative approach. Fragility takes a closer look at how their respective material properties react to outside factors. Absurdity questions the attributes assigned to them in the game, and how the two elements affect one another in their interaction.
