En-Force: Pascal Hachem’s Art

Abstract

This article discusses how violence, force, and law and order are problematized in the selected artworks of the Lebanese contemporary artist Pascal Hachem. The notions Hachem tackles are grounded in his personal experience of daily life in Lebanon. And the subjects of his artworks are related to current issues in Lebanon and the region. Describing and analyzing a selection of artworks, I emphasize the staged workings of violence in law and order. My interpretation of the artworks relies on the theoretical frameworks provided by Jacques Derrida in “Force of Law” and Asef Bayat in Life as politics. They help underline the connection between the concepts of ‘force of law’ and ‘ordinary life’—exposed in Hachem’s work. The artworks, I argue, deal with both ‘ordinary’ and political issues, and highlight and disclose the similar workings of force in law and order, proposing a critical evaluation of violence. The analysis leads to a rethinking of the question of change in a region that ‘cries for it’.