alkebulan + og: a kind of blue
Alkebulan – tissue paper, fragmented glass, copper tube, copper wire, copper washed steel mesh
Dimensions: H122 x W99 x D25cm
‘Alkebulan’ means “mother of mankind’ or “garden of Eden’. It is thought to be Arabic and the oldest and only word of indigenous origin for the African continent. Cobalt blue tissue paper ‘leaves’ were bound and tightly packed to create the familiar shape of the continent. The rich undulating texture of the surface speaks to Africa “on the move”, reflecting the continent’s young, dynamic population. The contrasting fragmented glass centre demarcating the Democratic Republic of Congo, highlights its beautiful but fractured heart.
Alkebulan is the second iteration of a work depicting the African continent in tissue paper and fragmented glass. It was created for exhibition in
The Future is Now Pt.II Re/form~ation at CasilART Contemporary in London. See OG: A Kind of Blue below.
OG: A Kind of Blue - Copper washed steel mesh, glass fragments, copper wire and blue tissue paper.
This site-specific work was commissioned for the exhibition, We Out Here at the Hastings Contemporary in Hastings. It was created as a companion piece to CO27: Blue Tears, an installation work also exhibited in the gallery.
The term ‘OG’ was initially used in the 1970’s by the Cripps gang in Los Angeles and evolved as a hip-hop acronym for ‘Original Gangster.’ Nowadays, ‘OG’ is used as a term of deep respect which is Mullings’ intention here. Marrying it to the title of Miles Davis’s 1959 masterpiece, A Kind of Blue, she wants to draw a meaningful connection between the legacy of jazz and that of the African continent as origins to be proud of. However, the contrasting fragmented glass centre ‘demarcating’ the Democratic Republic of Congo highlights the fractured heart of the African continent.
Dimensions - 244.5 x 183 x 25 cm
