Egyptian artist Moataz Nasr’s films, sculpture and paintings reflect the realities of life under what could be described as a totalitarian regime in his native country and thus might be considered a political activist as well. Time and again these works describe an inability, as he puts it, ‘to act and react to what is seen’, which in many respects is about a collective sense of powerlessness in the face of a self-serving government.
In An Ear of Mud, Another of Dough (2001), 2000 ears sculpted in mud and dough line a wall, with a video displaying someone shrugging their shoulders in non-committal fashion and the buzzing sound of flies in the background. Taken from an Egyptian proverb derived from folk tales, it features Goha, a ‘wise fool’ who deafens himself to the relentless complaints of his wife by stuffing one ear with mud and another with dough.