Joyce Joumaa
A Temporary Loss of Consciousness

[En anglais]

In a reflection of Earth’s elliptical orbit around the Sun—a recurring order that governs and perpetuates itself over time—Joyce Joumaa’s exhibition A Temporary Loss of Consciousness drew viewers into a cyclical relationality as they entered the gallery. This state of mind found immediate resonance in the show’s centrepiece, Mutable Cycles II (2024), a six-channel video work that contemplates the urban landscapes of Tripoli, Lebanon. 

These settings, marked by the abundance of built-in solar panels, slowly reveal a country deprived of light—both literally, due to the intermittent electricity disruptions, and metaphorically, through the disintegration of social structures. It is within this context that residents become desensitized to corruption, experience moral lapses, and face systemic challenges. Their resilience gives way to a momentary surrender to the overwhelming feeling born out of continuously facing adversity—a momentary darkness and hopelessness. Such persistent crises engender a temporary, albeit profound, loss of moral clarity, mirroring the cyclical pattern observed in the natural phenomenon of the solar system. EDL (2024) and the Untitled (2024) diptych, situated on either side of the gallery space—the former depicting a modernist electricity building (Electricité du Liban) and the latter a nearly illegible colonial mapping of Lebanon—derive their significance from the past they summon, which persists in its unfolding, thus remaining in effect. Here, the fragmented image of the building marks the failure of what was once an emblem of modernity—a structure that promised a future of prosperity, reinforced architecturally by panoramic views of the boundless horizon and the sea from every level. Untitled recalls the undelivered promises of the past that have plunged the country into darkness today.