"Zen" is a filmed scene. It shows a bare-chested Black man standing in a public park. A high-angle close-up shot above his body reveals a steady, tranquil presence awaiting an imminent event.
Sure enough, a hand-Julie Abdessemed's-enters the frame to pour a bottle of milk over the Black man's hair, shoulders, and the rest of his body. The Magic of Encounter and Giving: Through the calm and welcoming presence of the Black man, the artist offers—beyond his gaze—a precious and nourishing gift: milk. Between your skin and mine, the act of touch is conveyed through the fluid caress of white milk. “Zen” is a generous, humble, and raw work in the way Adel Abdessemed engages with the living. Zen alternates between high-angle shots of this shower of milk and close-up frontal shots of the face. From this montage of images emerges a complex sensitivity to the body’s contact with the milky substance: the extreme beauty of the white liquid trickling down curly hair and over dark skin that resists any whitening ; facial expression reacting to cold milk being poured over the body. What the Black man might have perceived as an assault is simply viewed as a mutual agreement to experience certain sensations.
