Breakdance on the Line / Ambiguous Trace

Two installations by Ali Sayah are currently on view at VfJ Berlin.
The installation “Breakdance on the Line” is located in the entrance area and the corridor. With its playful and interactive character, it invites visitors to engage with it physically and spatially.
The second installation, “Ambivalent Trace,” is positioned inside the building and unfolds its own spatial presence within the room.

“Breakdance on the Line”
In the center of the space runs a rope whose ends are fixed to the floor with screws and nails, dividing the room into two halves. Two rotating fans in the room generate air currents, causing the rope to continuously change its form and position.
Access to the room is through a narrow corridor, from which the rope already begins. Upon entering, visitors must decide whether to move to the right or to the left. In order to view the works on the opposite side, they must cross the moving rope and shift to the other side of the space.

“Ambivalent Trace”
In a room of approximately 16 square meters, fine, line-like markings made of sand are arranged on the floor, resembling boundary lines. On each of the four walls hangs a small A5-sized image in a high-quality, antique-style wooden frame. Using lenticular technique, the works present dual, opposing motifs that change depending on the viewer’s angle.
In one corner of the room, an autonomous vacuum cleaner robot moves through the space. Mounted on it is a sand-filled container with a narrow opening. As the robot moves, it vacuums up existing sand lines while simultaneously releasing new sand, continuously creating new boundary lines across the floor.
The movements of the visitors also influence this process, as the robot reacts to obstacles and changes its direction. In this way, each passage through the room generates a new and temporary configuration of sand lines.