XENON PALACE CHAMPIONSHIP (2023) transports us into a film environment resembling a hookah lounge, complete with coloured carpeting, ambient lighting, lounge seats and user-controlled hookah handles. Here, the artist assumes the role of a hookah lounge manager organising a tournament, while the actors in the film, who are real-life acquaintances of the artist, draw on real experiences of friendship through gameplay. In the film, the performers play a fighting game as part of the fictional tournament, while the viewers are invited to use the game controls to participate and activate the universe.
Sadik’s project is a reflection on the blurry thresholds between social spaces and routes of escapism, casting a new light on vernacular sites of gathering as places of cultural and political valence. While celebrating aspects of immigrant communities that are often under-represented in the media, Sadik reappraises a traditionally male-coded setting defined by competition and performativity to explore the empowering values and potentialities that prevail within it.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Sara Sadik (b. 1994, Bordeaux) lives and works in Marseille. In her practice, she develops immersive narrative environments where masculinity, identity and vulnerability intersect through video, gaming and collaborative storytelling. Sadik’s work has been shown in solo exhibitions such as XENON PALACE CHAMPIONSHIP at Luma Arles (2023); LA POTION (EH) at Spazio Maiocchi, Milan (2023); Ultimate Vatos: Force & Honneur at Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster (2022). She has participated in group exhibitions including Avatars and Alter Egos, M+, Hong Kong (2024); Worldbuilding. Gaming and Art in the Digital Age, Centre Pompidou-Metz (2023); 16th Lyon Biennale (2022).
EXHIBITED WORKS
Sara Sadik (b. 1994)
XENON PALACE CHAMPIONSHIP, 2023
Interactive film, video-game, PVC inflatable seating, custom-made hookah-handle controllers, automotive silicone intake hoses
Variable dimensions
Commissioned by LUMA Arles & Google Research Initiative
Courtesy of the artist
