In his work, Saâdane Afif adopts strategies from the fields of art and music, for example the method of appropriation, in order to critically explore the concepts of interpretation and repetition. Among other elements, his room installations combine song texts and pop music with pictures, personal comments and objects which have been pre-fabricated or already exist. Afif reflects artistic authorship and how the art system works.

Saâdane Afif has arranged thirteen black guitars and amps in a room. Lyrics (2007) creates sound to accompany a sculpture. The guitars are orchestrated from afar by a computer and also altered conceptually. Afif has been commissioning writer friends to write Lyrics to one of his works since 2004. The Lyrics thus provide a personal perspective on each work and are thus interpreted once more by the musician’s free-form improvisations.

-- FROM THE DOCUMENTA 12 SITE