Projections #10: Meriem Bennani – Life on the CAPS
Still from Party on the CAPS, image courtesy Meriem Bennani
Meriem Bennani’s playful, sci-fi trilogy Life on the CAPS (2018–22) premiered in Australia on Saturday 29 April 2023 at the Art Gallery of New South Wales as part of our Projections series.
First introduced in Party on the CAPS (2018), Bennani invents a fictional island called ‘CAPS’ where American troopers detain illegal teleporters trying to reach their shores. The CAPS is no ordinary detention centre: on this mid-Atlantic metropolis, Arabic techno throbs and the security cameras sing along to Alicia Keys. Refugees have been stuck for so long in limbo that they’ve developed their own hybrid cultures, makeshift infrastructure and fugitive identities. Humorous, inventive and madcap, Bennani’s trilogy celebrates the ungovernable: data leaks and viral videos; the circulation of bootlegged media amongst diasporic communities; the urge to party in even the most oppressive environments.
The second episode of the ‘CAPS’ trilogy – Guided Tour of a Spill (CAPS Interlude) (2021) – is on display in the Outlaw exhibition.
This screening is an opportunity to watch the full trilogy in a cinema environment, including the latest episode, Life on the CAPS (2022).
About the artist
Meriem Bennani is a New York–based artist from Morocco. As a storyteller, her work presents an amplified version of reality, punctuated by special effects, digital animation, and music. She draws on reality TV, documentary, advertising, social media and phone footage, exploring the saturation of digital technologies and the fracturing of identities within contemporary society. Bennani’s work has been shown at the Whitney Museum of American Art, MoMA PS1, The Guggenheim Museum, Art Dubai, The Fondation Louis Vuitton, Public Art Fund, The Kitchen, and CLEARING, among other venues.