Mona Hatoum

Palestinian, active in London, born Beirut, Lebanon, 1952

+ and -

Mona Hatoum (Palestinian, born Lebanon, 1952). + and -, 1994–2004. Steel, aluminum, sand and electric motor, artist's proof from edition of 3 plus 1 artist's proof, 10 5/8 x 157 1/4 x 157 1/4 inches (27 x 399.4 x 399.4 cm). Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; General Purchase Funds, 2007 (2007:2a-d). © 2004 Mona Hatoum.

© Mona Hatoum

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

download

© Mona Hatoum

Image downloads are for educational use only. For all other purposes, please see our Obtaining and Using Images page.

+ and -, 1994-2004

Artwork Details

Materials

steel, aluminum, sand, and electric motor

Edition:

artist's proof 1/1 from edition of 3 plus 1 artist's proof

Measurements

overall: 10 5/8 x 165 3/8 inches (26.99 x 420.05 cm)

Collection Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Credit

General Purchase Funds, 2007

Accession ID

2007:2a-d

Quiet and subtle in its implications, Mona Hatoum’s + and − in part reflects the artist's identity as a British resident of Palestinian descent. Hatoum’s family left Haifa, Israel, in 1948 during the Arab-Israeli War and settled in Beirut, Lebanon, where she was born in 1952. The Lebanese Civil War broke out while Hatoum was visiting London in 1975, preventing her from returning home.

The sculpture's rotating arm simultaneously marks and smooths the surface of a disk of sand. The work serves as an affecting metaphor for the eternal sands of time, the cyclical nature of historical events, and the beauty and horror of a life fully lived.

Label from DECADE: Contemporary Collecting 2002–2012, August 21, 2012–January 6, 2013