East Jerusalem-based emerging media artist Shadi Habib Allah investigates the human condition in animation, video and sculpture works. For his animations, Habib Allah uses a black pen to draw simple figures in basic, repetitive shapes set against a plain landscape to create generic archetypal stories about the role of power and fear in human societies and history.

In “An Ongoing Tale”, Habib Allah sets up a bird’s eye view of what appears to be members of a tribe performing a series of basic human actions: hunting, dancing, lighting a fire. Through the different scenes, the idea of fear is defined in a changing set of relationships. The central component of the piece, consisting of five animated scenes, is projected onto the floor, while the other is presented on a television screen adjacent to the projection. The television shows the frontal view of two male figures laying side by side in a constant exchange of competitive, distrustful gazes, seemingly attempting to overpower one another.

A recent graduate of the Columbia University’s Master’s of Fine Arts programme, Habib Allah has exhibited at the Riwaq Biennale, the 2009 Venice Biennale, Tate Modern and the Israeli Centre for Digital Art. He was twice awarded 2nd Prize for the Young Artist Award of the A.M. Qattan Foundation.