«There is something analogous to this

scientific and fictional proliferation in fatmi's work,

in his use of different supports, in his back and forth

movements between different themes, his outlined,

reprised or abandoned narratives. In a way, we could

say that he appropriates the enigmatic discovery of

a form of energy that seems inexhaustible but also

uncontrollable - except that in his case the subject

is a metaphorical equivalent of the nuclear, namely,

desire and the irresistible attraction that it triggers.

But then is the difference really so great? What

matters, indeed, in both instances, is the moment

of unleashing, the moment that is not a moment,

between the before and the after - an imminence,

you might say, that is to say, a time-space without

real consistency, without real duration. What comes

next is a form of unfolding, with its options and

possible narrative trajectories. Before the reaction

is triggered, before the lips touch and nothing is

the same as before. Such is the kiss in the works of

the "Casablanca Circles" series. It is a catastrophe, a

rupture, the almost unassignable moment whereby

everything changes. The beauty of the thing is that

this around this impalpable non-moment so many

expectations and narrative possibilities are precipitated.

Countless underground connections appear,

crossovers, secret coincidences, so that in this work

there hovers a subtle perfume of paranoia.»

Régis Durand