Kambui Olujimi: Zulu Time exhibition catalog

POETICS
of (IN)VISIBILITY
Leah Kolb
In Zulu Time, Kambui Olujimi presents a body of work that
plays with notions of visibility, gesturing towards socio-economic
infrastructures and political systems whose authority relies on the very
absence of detectability. In a clever parallel, Olujimi similarly disguises
his artwork’s own power by eschewing the literal. In refusing to give
visual form to what he specifically references, the artist asks us to
look behind, around, under, and through his objects and images—to
consider what might be absent or obscured as much as what is present
and tangible. His artworks become simultaneous presentations of
visibility and invisibility, and demand a metaphorical slowing down of
time to allow for careful, contemplative observation.
Time itself manifests as the most invisible yet pervasive
force in this exhibition. Zulu Time—the phonetic pronunciation of
Z-Time—refers to Coordinated Universal Time (formerly Greenwich
Mean Time), the world’s standardized mode of tracking time. Specifically,
it references the time at the prime meridian (longitude 0 degrees),
the invisible and ultimately arbitrary line from which all global time
zones are calculated. Since Great Britain was the world’s foremost
maritime power when the concept of latitude and longitude originated,
the starting point for designating longitude is based on the location
of the British Naval Observatory. Thus, Zulu Time literally revolves
around Western norms for structuring a day. 1 This notion of universal
time as an intangible yet ever-present expression of dominance and
an imposition of control—a residue of Empire—serves as Olujimi’s
jumping off point for creating two- and three-dimensional works that
explore entrenched hierarchies and power disparities, while questioning
assumptions underlying our understanding of the world at large.
Consider InDecisive Moments, a series of four hourglassshaped
vessels with craggy protrusions, resembling icebergs, that
extend inward on either end. The bottom section of each hourglass
is partially filled with water, further reinforcing the visual allusion
1. Dava Sobel details the politics, history, and
science of global mapping and timekeeping
in Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius
Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of
His Time (New York: Penguin Books, 1995).
Regarding the arbitrary nature of the prime
meridian, she writes: “As the world turns, any
line drawn from pole to pole may serve as well
as any other starting line of reference. The
placement of the prime meridian is a purely
political decision.” (4).
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