Embodied Knowledges deals with ideas of how we show our presence in a place. For Marina Abramović and Fred Wilson, their presence was marked simply by being in the room with their audience rather than by any particular action. Inside Out is a project by French artist JR, who takes portraits of people from around the world and turns them into large-format pastings that have been pasted in 129 countries.
JR has worked with community organizations, institutions and schools as well as movements such as Black Lives Matter. Most of the portraits do not show people smiling, but aim to capture a piece of their personalities. Some of the most powerful parts of the project have been pasting pairings. In Israel and Palestine, JR pasted images of Israelis and Palestinians side by side in both zones. When locals realized who the people were, many were shocked by what he was doing. The question he always asked was “so which one is Israeli and which is Palestinian?” Very few could distinguish.
The project uses personal identity to connect people and parts of the world that have been divided and separated. The mere presence of the portraits is a reminder of these people’s existence and their presence in the world.
To listen to a TED talk by JR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PAy1zBtTbw&feature=youtu.be
To see more of the Project: http://www.insideoutproject.net/en