LAWRENCE ABU HAMDAN, Case 1: Can / Can’t, 2018
inkjet print mounted on Dibond, 31.5 x 15 cm

image © we find wildness

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Case 1: Can / Can’t (2018) is part of the series Disputed Utterance (2018) that has been presented earlier this year at Mor Charpentier in Paris.

In Disputed Utterance (2018), LAWRENCE ABU HAMDAN presents a series of charcoal drawings and photographs that mimic the linguistic process of palatography, a method used to identify which parts of the mouth are used when making different sounds. It involves painting a mixture of charcoal and olive oil on the tongue or the roof of the mouth and having that person pronounce a specific word. The trace of the phoneme is then printed on the speakers’ palate in charcoal. ABU HAMDAN uses these images in order to tell different narratives of what in legal cases is referred to as a ‘disputed utterance’, a trial where someone’s culpability or innocence is hinged upon conflicted claims over a recorded word or phrase*. 

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*press release Mor Charpentier, April 2018

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