Mazen Khaddaj loves instability. For most people, uncertainty and chaos can cause stress. He is not most people. Khaddaj thrives off it, citing it as a vital element to his creative process. The 29-year-old artist, from the mountains of Aley, lives in the heart of Beirut, embracing the disorder. He lives life at full-speed, working long days at J. Walter Thompson advertising agency while still finding time to create.
“What is happening in the region, artists need this instability. I quit meditation. Everything in my life is stressful. I work almost 12 hours a day at my advertising job, but this stress causes me to go to places where I can create and provide my inner satisfaction,” Khaddaj says hours before his second solo exhibition, The Middle State, opened at 392Rmeil393 in Gemmayze.
