Nadim Abbas, portrait, shot at "The Last Vehicle" at UCCA, Beijing, 2016. Courtesy of the artist

May 9, 2020

Articles

A Room with a View: Nadim Abbas on his isolation experience

"A Room with a View" is a new editorial initiative which aims to illuminate the positive and creative potential of time spent in isolation. The eleventh contribution comes from Hong Kong based artist Nadim Abbas

Words by Nadim Abbas

Dear Editors,

thanks for getting in touch. Perhaps I could indulge readers in the negative potential of time spent in self-isolation. My sense in this moment of crisis is that the Internet is already over-saturated with remedies to pass the time, and a certain contradictory anxiety to stay connected, positive, productive… Of course this is understandable, when there is so much at stake. But is it possible still to disconnect? To withdraw and recover a solitude that has become increasingly difficult to locate, amidst the relentless murmur of our devices, both digital and mental? In short, to do nothing! If that proves to be a difficult prospect, then I’m sure we all have tucked away lists of things that we always wanted to do (er… at home), but never had the time. I feel that anything I might add to this list would just be another distraction. At the very least, here is a view from a room that I put together a few years back. Something to look at… I’ll leave it at that.

Warmest,
Nadim (April 2020, Hong Kong)

Nadim Abbas, Cataract, 2010, courtesy of the artist