Saadane Afif is one of the most inventive contemporary artists working in France, and his work, which employs objects, scale models, sound and writing, can transform an installation into a song, an Andre Cadere sculpture into a lightshow or a guitar into a clock. (Amazon)

Occupying the literal and figurative epicenter of documenta 12’s temporary Aue-Pavilion, Afif’s Black Chords Plays Lyrics combines Lyrics’ novel retrospective approach with Power Chords, a 2005 work that turned wooden sculptures by minimalist artist André Cadere into music. Afif has arranged 13 guitars and amps in a black-draped room that also serves as a passageway to the other half of the exhibition. The guitars are hooked up to mechanized strummers, which cover the guitar strings like black plastic hubcaps. Approaching from afar, one hears the eerie echo of the seemingly random chords as they filter through the pavilion. Upon leaving the room, the experience repeats, this time with the sound receding into the sensory confusion of the other installations.

This restrained disruption of perception, movement, and space is a thought-provoking formal experiment. While compressing an entire other career into one installation, it also engages viewers on an immediate level and constitutes a haunting calling card for an innovative artist. (AM)

Saâdane Afif’s work is on view at documenta 12 in Kassel, Germany, through September 23. The artist’s first monograph, Power Chords, was published by JRP/Ringier in 2006. From http://www.artkrush.com/current, July 25 - August 7 documenta 12. Photo: Power Chords, view of the installation at the Lyon Biennial 2005: 11 electrical guitars, 11 amplifiers, 11 automatons, Apple computer, software. Unique piece.