Yohannes Mulat mekonnen

Map of Possibilities 2019

With no linguistic measures, we would be able neither to fully comprehend nor represent the human world with all its totality. But Certitude seems to be the defining characteristic both of our language structures and scientific understandings. 20th century linguistic philosophers believed the problems dealt by philosophy are rooted in the problem of the language. Hence the proponents of such schools of thought argue that creating correspondence between the world and  language must be the central task in  our strive to solve the   metaphysical inquiries dealt by philosophy. Map of possibility wants to  juxtapose the 20th century utopian linguistic optimism with its historical parallel, totalitarianism which also aimed at  cultivating  a language structure  that dictates what is possible to think. 


This is a Pipe 2019

is an appropriation of the famous painting by René Magritte entitled “La Trahison des Images” (Treachery of  images). It proposes negation as a method to delineate an object. The act of selecting is also a process of exclusion. In this piece, one of the things that I want to achieve is to give a character to the absence, i.e to organize, shape and develop a structure for the excluded.                                                                            “This is a pipe” poses a question that pertains to how the colonial narrations are strongly rooted in the exclusion of any intellectual and cultural  achievements of their former colonies. Can negation-narration or shaping the excluded be used as a possible way of integrating the decolonization discourse?


Over-determined 2018

Overdetermined is develop to grapple with the question I had as a student towards the education system. I Learned in the country where mass transformation was launched the education of the generations is designed to meet the sole purpose of producing a huge workforce of average competence and without regard to opinion formation. The education system isn't intended to adequately empower the public rather it aimed to satiate the ever increasing demand for moderately trained workforce. the individual educational journey is tuned by the demand of either the state or the market.