In Dinosaurs I direct friends and family members to reenact scenes from existing or non-existing films wherein the act of drinking reveals moments of intimacy, aggression, and physiological interactions created by the “actors” who actively participate in the interpretation of each scene. Their characters live in an eternal, unstable present and their locations, marked mostly by darkness, are illuminated by the intensity of those who inhabit them. While alcohol evaporates from the body—a witness to political aggression, socio-economic changes, and religious contrasts—the body deals with the simple gesture of drinking, without it being judged. Dinosaurs’ fragmented sometimes loud or silent scenes build a fragile portrait of a place in flux, a loose account that unravels and unhinges with each raised bottle or glass pointed at the mouth. 

With: Serge Abi Aad, Rawad Abi Akar, Jamal Ahmad, Abdallah Almachnouk, Ghaith Al-Amine, Marwa Arsanios, Mirene Arsanios, Stefanie Baumann, Hanan Bdeir El Solh, Fares Chalabi, Abedelhadi El Chami, Sarah Farahat, Nesrine Khodr, Hassan El Khoury, Maxime Hourani, May Kassem, Zad Saad, Ara Saferian, Hassan Sahili, Mounira Al Solh, Nassib El Solh, Fadi Tofeili, Karine Wehbe, Rebecca Whiting.

This work was commissioned and produced by Art in General in NY

Camera: Karam Ghossein and Mounira Al Solh

Assistant: Stefanie Baumann

Thanks to CCA Glasgow, and Mondriaan Fonds