Bus Logos

Yto Barrada, "Bus Logos", 2007.
Yto Barrada, "Bus Logos", 2007.
Yto Barrada, "Bus Logos", 2007.
Yto Barrada, "Bus Logos", 2007.

In this photographic series, Yto Barrada was interested in the logos of the buses that travel between North Africa and Europe. They become like abstract paintings that recall Modernist formal experimentation. They are somehow symptomatic of the circulation of goods and people that is made to sound so abstract. The commentaries of two Moroccan children that accompany the images reminds us about the fact that everyday candidates to emigration try to spot these buses that will cross the Strait. Many children hide there and undertake long illicit journeys. As is often the case in her photographs, Yto Barrada chose a square format that conveys immobility despite the reference to transport. They are flat, without perspective, like the numerous walls visible in her work. The loss of depth in things ensures that any pain consciously stays separate from the beauty of the images.