Some freedom is always a paradox.

Zella 2022-08-29 12:16:33

Artist Jeffrey Godefroi tattooed a Schengen visa on the back of a Syrian refugee, Sam Ali, and it became a priceless work of art.

Artwork Sam Ali bid farewell to his status as an illegal refugee and traveled to major European museums to exhibit himself as a work of art.

The movie "Skin Pawn" , the English name The Man Who Sold His Skin, literally translated as "the person who sold his skin", tells the story of Sam and the back skin he was sold.

Why did Jeffrey Godefroi make such a piece?

In a documentary filmed by a friend, he told the camera: "We are living in very dark times. If you are Syrian, Afghan, Palestinian, you are not welcome. There will be estrangement. And I To turn Sam into a commodity, an oil painting, so that he can travel around the world. Because in this era we live in, the circulation of commodities is much easier than the circulation of human beings. So according to the rules of our time , by transforming him into something of a commodity, his humanity and his freedom can be reclaimed."

Sam Ali obviously had no idea what kind of paradox he was about to experience.

Before becoming a refugee, Sam was jailed for shouting "This is a revolution, we want freedom. Let's be free then!" while proposing to his girlfriend on the train.

The person in charge of interrogation happened to be a relative of Sam's family, so he quietly let Sam go. Sam had to say goodbye to his family, smuggled into Lebanon from the border, became a refugee working under the gang, and could only watch his beloved girlfriend become someone else's wife.

When Sam sneaked into the exhibition to eat and drink, he met the artist Jeffrey Godefroi. Jeffrey buys Sam a drink, and Sam says to him, "I need to save my love from a monster, but I don't even have a horse."

Jeffrey offers Sam what he wants.

Sam thought he got the opportunity and money to freedom from the elf, but he didn't realize that he was actually selling his body and soul to the devil.

People looked at Sam in all kinds of ways, with contempt, jealousy, suspicion, sympathy, indifference... Art or merchandise, Sam would sit in a museum all day for people to see, judge, and even buy and sell.

Sam finally experienced the paradox of freedom - with a Schengen visa, he had the freedom to go anywhere in Europe, and he lost the freedom to go anywhere.

But he still had no choice. The money he used this switch is the qualification for his family to live in Syria safely.

Finally, at an auction, Sam used the earphones in his pocket to pretend to be a lead wire for dynamite, scare the whole house away, and got the heartfelt joy, and finally got the freedom to be locked in prison and not be visited by anyone.

At the end of the story, there is an unexpected happy ending.

Sam's girlfriend divorced her husband and stayed with him forever; Sam said he would go back to his hometown - which has been occupied by IS, but together with Jeffrey, he extracted his own DNA and copied the skin and tattoos on his back , then faked his own death with a video of IS public executions.

Sam and Jeffrey both won in the end - the artwork is still there and worth a fortune; Sam doesn't have to face huge reparations, and still has a beautiful woman.

But the refugees are still there, the war is still raging, and the legs that Sam's mother lost in the bomb can't be returned to her intact.

Displaced, people who have lost their homes and lives are a source of inspiration for the artist. But in the lives of those people, there is no art at all. They have no chance of survival from art, and no chance of a peace of mind because of the focus that art casts on them.

There is no chance to avoid the hardships of life, and everyone's happiness is only reserved for the people in the camera.

When Sam sat in the museum for the first time for a visit, a teacher who taught the students explained that the legal way to come to Europe is to apply for a Schengen visa.

A child asked: "Does everyone from afar need to have this tattoo on their bodies?"

Everyone is laughing.

Yes, boy, some people from far away must have this tattoo on their bodies. Just like not everyone is lucky enough to get a Schengen visa, not everyone is lucky enough to have this tattoo - only Sam.

Sam's mother told him that everything would be fine.

But will those out of the spotlight really get better?

-END-

Original: Yi Xiaomeng

First published on the public account: a little movie

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Extended Reading

The Man Who Sold His Skin quotes

  • Sam Ali: Don't take it badly, ok? fuck you.

  • Jeffrey Godefroi: Some pessimists rule that art is dead. Well, I think art has never been more alive than it is today. With my latest work I am exploring a new realm... we live in a very dark era where if you are Syrian, Afghan, Palestinian and so on, you are persona non grata, hmm? The walls rise. And I just made Sam a commodity, a canvas. So now he can travel around the world. Because in the times we are living, the circulation of commodities is much freer than the circulation of a human being. Thus by transforming him into some kind of merchandise, he now will be able, according to the codes of our time, to recover his humanity and his freedom. Now, that's quite a paradox, isn't it?

    [laughs]

    Jeffrey Godefroi: Sorry, it's not funny.