A new show opening in Traffic on 18 May will bring a streak of dark humour and a firmly tongue-in-cheek approach to political commentary, when UBIK exhibits his new body of work in ‘Relate to the Matter As I Drop the Bomb’. The exhibition touches on different themes relating to revolutions, from power and domination, to revolt, radicalism and anarchy, freedom and oppression, mass and social media, truth and fabrication.

ArtintheCity spoke to him ahead of the show…

ArtintheCity: Let’s start where you started for this show – the text you wrote that spawned the concept for this show. Do you often use writing to start to generate new work?

UBIK: Writing sometimes does act as a starting point for most of my works. The text was actually written in response for another show, it was never really the starting point for the whole show. In fact I don't think there was a starting point, just a lot of random works and concepts I have been toying with for a while, the text just managed to tie in with it all - pure luck I suppose.

AITC: The repetition seems almost ritualistic and is suggestive to me of a mantra or a prayer, yet rather than embracing a higher power, or celebrating life, it is rejecting anything and everything. Can you tell me about what inspired this writing? And could you ever see it being something more performance based/does performance ever enter into your work?

UBIK: The writing could be a manifesto, like the countless others that have come before mine and will continue to do so after; it could also be utterly pointless or could make an impact.... I try not to think when I write, I prefer just going with the flow and what ever comes out of my head when I'm typing. For this particular piece I was pretty drunk and listening to a lot of RATM (Rage Against the Machine) I think. That's how the title for the piece came about - silly accidents. Could it be a performance? Well I guess so…I do like theatrics in life and everything I do. It's interesting to use oneself as a guinea pig, anything to keep me amused I guess...

AITC: Since I saw your work in what was your first solo show 2 years ago at thejamjar (I think this was actually the first exhibition I attended when I moved to Dubai!), text has been something that is fairly ubiquitous (or maybe UBIKuitous, couldn’t resist the chance at a bad joke) throughout your work, and used in quite a playful way. What is it that attracts you to text, is it something you feel allows you to be more direct than an image?

UBIK: Your joke is really bad, I expected much better from you! As for my affinity towards text, I find it quite natural. Using language to confuse has always been some of the greatest ammo of mankind. It's been tried, tested, and worshiped too; it's a system that works, so why not mess with it? An image works too but I think it's more confusing if there's both image and a text involved.

AITC: Much of your recent work is very political, but I feel you avoid being sanctimonious by using humour and wit. The lenticular pieces appropriate the slogans of politicians and subvert them, sometimes by changing merely a single word (Even the choice of medium of lenticular printing feels somewhat subversive, as this is often used in mainstream marketing and advertising) – this seems to me to relate to the tradition of political satire. How do you see your relationship to this?

UBIK: I know right! All of a sudden I've become all ‘oh so very political’. But truth be told, as much as I'd like to choose a side, I prefer not to. I think I am more interested in exploring why we're reacting to all of this when it's pretty obvious that no real conclusion to any issues out there in the world, social or political. And I’m hardly doing anything subversive, I'm merely pointing out what already exists out there; the medium is the message, the message is the medium. The medium and the message can be fabricated and mass produced. I prefer to keep my work as edition pieces + artist proofs.

AITC: I am interested to know more about how you position yourself in relation to satire since you have kind of come from this ‘underground artist’ background (at least, as underground a scene as Dubai has) and some of your drawings do remind me of the work of say Robert Crumb, who criticised and satirized the American mainstream, and was a founder of the Underground Comix movement in the 60s.

UBIK: I have an open and honest relationship with satire. It's convenient - there's always a ‘man’ out there who you can oppose and challenge his authority; this is beginning to read like a reader's digest, a “how I overcame my fear of everything I have been taught to stand up for in my life " story...

AITC: In the work that I first saw, you were making art on found material, writing and drawing in marker and spray paint. I’d rather not use the somewhat general and redundant term ‘street art’, but there was a rawness to the work. It felt like you were creating within and for the public arena rather than for a gallery space. Would you say this was the case? And do you think the work loses any of its directness by leaving the public arena and entering the realm of galleries and art fairs, or does this just allow you to critique in a different way and reach different audiences?

UBIK: Well the rawness might be a bit polished now, but I don't think a change of medium has changed my core ideologies; chaos still rules supreme in my work. A gallery can be a public arena if you fill it up with the public, so this way i am hardly creating anything for specifically the public or the gallery; I don't think that far ahead most of the time, I like to keep it open-ended and see what happens.

AITC: Do you think artists have any responsibility to take action against injustice and comment on/raise awareness of socio-political affairs of the day? Once upon a time it was perhaps left mainly to artists and creative thinkers, politicians and philosophers to question and criticise, but in today’s world of social media overload, as you yourself have described it, ‘suddenly everyone’s a political pundit in this new world diss-order!’. Slightly cynical to say the least, but not untrue. Today nothing is left unsaid, no matter how inane.

UBIK: Art as activism? Sure why not...whatever gives you the kicks I presume. Haha, do you find that statement cynical? I thought it was a clever wordplay, cheeky to say the least; and yes that's why i love social media. Everyone's more connected now, everyone has to say something; that itch to put your ‘legacy’ out there, no matter how stupid it is you'll have an audience. Theatrics, it's all about the theatrics...

AITC: I also think your statement that revolutions are glorified and merchandised rings true, but I wouldn’t say this is a new thing, propaganda is something that has persisted throughout time. What has changed is the ease and speed that information can go viral, and the difficulty of regulating it.

UBIK: Propoganda is awesome! Peaceful protesters should be attacked and killed for the sake of a revolution to become legitimate, just, and to gain advantage - it's just good PR. What else would you expect when you go against dictators and authoritarian regimes, and even democracies? The shock and condemnation of the international world adds tons of value to the cause. Violence is a key plan of action, otherwise we'd never idolise revolutionaries and their theories and ideologies. Learn to embrace it I guess.

AITC: Can you talk me through a few of the key pieces in the show? We were talking the other day about how the piece featuring Osama Bin Laden as the Holy Ghost (Father, Son and Holy Ghost) has now evolved with the new context of his death. Can you tell me about the original intentions behind this piece and how you think it has changed conceptually in the aftermath of the American capture and execution of Osama? Do you think that it is the mark of a good piece of art that it continues to evolve and take on new meanings and importance long after it has left the artist’s studio?

UBIK: I’m gearing up to see how people react to this one. Funny that OBL had to die now, I guess it might just do wonders to this piece. I don’t feel the need to explain the original intention of this piece, mainly because I feel like I've done my part; it's pretty straightforward a piece and it's quite willing to be dissected. Everyone's entitled to draw their own opinions and conclusions, why would I deprive myself of the amusement of their interpretations?

UBIK’s show ‘Relate to the Matter As I Drop the Bomb’ opens on Wednesday, 18 May from 7pm at Traffic, and will run till 15 June, 2011. Follow UBIK on twitter @whoisubik