Artist Statement, video installation, 2011.
Artist Statement, video installation, 2011.
contact:
sonasafaei@gmail.com
Up Coming> In Other Words
Border @NGBK & Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin
March 3-15 2012
Aleph@ Thomas Erben Gallery, NY. Curated by Amirali Ghasemi and Sandra Skuryida, Dec 2011.
Aleph@ Thomas Erben Gallery, NY. Curated by Amirali Ghasemi and Sandra Skuryida, Dec 2011.
Aleph@ Thomas Erben Gallery, NY. Curated by Amirali Ghasemi and Sandra Skuryida, Dec 2011.
Scale, Video installation, loop, 2011
Scale is a two-channel video installation, which uses the hyper realistic nature of stop-motion technique and shows the disappearance of candies in one video and reappearance of them in another. It intends to raise questions around subjects such as artist/museum relationship and disappearance of art object, virtually in this case.
Scale is a response to the pile of candy by Cuban artist Felix Gonzales-Torres. In his work “instead of equating art with the accumulation of wealth, purchasers become gift givers”(Weintraub 114). This interactive work invites visitors to take candies away, to not only consider a lifetime for the art object, but also to give a transportable quality to it. By using videotaped candies instead of presenting actual candies, scale accentuates the dematerialization of art objects, especially as the candies seem to disappear from one room and reappear in another. The work is installed in two different rooms to let the viewers experience the work in transition: in one video candy disappears, in the other the candy replenishes. The gap in between the two rooms highlights a double-edged situation. On one hand we, artists, intend to critic galleries. On the other had we are depended on institutions financially. This work uses, the simple action of scaling to show attachment to one results in disconnection from the other. Is there a way to find a balance? It places emphasis at the point where a critique of an institution arises from inside the institution.
Bibliography
Weintraub, Linda. “Félix González-Torres”, Art on the Edge and Over. Art Insights: September 1996. Book.
Artist Statement
In the contemporary world cultural exchange and data transition are dominant to life. We meet people with different ‘backgrounds’ everyday, randomly. We communicate and exchange messages on regular basis. Similarly, according to curator and art critic Nicolas Bourriaurd, art today gets shaped from a global dialogue. One idea or concept gets connected to the other and the other idea and concept links to many other ideas and concepts. My work and process draws attention to where this dialogue between or among, individuals and their cultures take place, where links are made, or where data has been lost through communications.
CV
Sona Safaei-Sooreh
Education
2010- current OCAD student Major: Sculpture/Installation
BFA July 2006 Islamic Azad University Major: Painting
Solo Exhibition
Oct 2010 Time, Video Installation, Nuit Blanche Gallery 1313, Toronto
Feb 2010 Aleph, Video Installation, Gallery 1313, Toronto
Screenings
March 2011 Limited Access III, Remote Homecoming chapter one, Studio Strike & Mohsen Art Gallery, London & Tehran, UK & Iran.
Nov 2010 I Will Never Be The Same, Videocube, Contemporary Istanbul, Turkey
Sept 2010 Art Gallery of Hamilton World Film Festival, The Factory Media Arts Centre, Hamilton, Canada
Apr 2010 Postproduction, Twitter/Art + Social Media, Diane Farris Gallery, Vancouver
Oct 2009 Limited Access II, Tehran, Iran
Selected Group Exhibitions
Dec 2011 Iran via Video Current, Thomas Erben Gallery, NY
Sep- Oct 2011 ”The Invisible Present” Iranian Plus, Oi Futuro, Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Jul 2011 OtherIS/TVDinner, IM International, NY
Feb 2011 Sometimes Y, Algreen Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Oct 2010 Iran & Co, La Bourgeoiase, Bruges, Belgium
Aug 2009 Fly with the Cage Toronto, Lennox Contemporary, Toronto
Apr 2009 As much as Possible, Minnow and Bass Galley, Toronto
2008-2009 Urban Jealousy (The first International Roaming Biennial of Tehran, Istanbul, Berlin, Belgrade
Nov 2008 Maxwell-Slingluff-Safaei, Studio 2728, Philadelphia, United States
Aug 2008 The Original 6th Annual SQUARE FOOT Show, AWOL Gallery and studios, Toronto
Aug 2008 Portrait and Figurative show, Ben Navaee Gallery, Toronto
2006 Fourth Biennial of Contemporary Painting of the Islamic World, Saba Cultural and Artistic Centre, Tehran, Iran
2006 Deeper depression, Abtin Gallery, Tehran, Iran
![Decenter, Installation View- Part 2, [artists’ studio, OCADU, room #158], 2011
Media, as a controlled application dependent on geographical and political situations, is deconstructed in ‘Decenter’. “One believes that power manipulates the masses through the popular media. One can also think that the reverse is true: it may be masses who neutralize and destabilize through the popular media” (Baudrillard 145). Today we experience uncontrollable expansion of cultural exchanges. In this situation “there are no longer cultural roots to sustain forms, no exact cultural base to serve as a benchmark for variations, no nucleus, no boundaries for artistic language” (Bourriaud 4). To accentuate this shift from benchmark to variations, ‘Decenter’ directs the viewer’s attention from a final looped video, to the process of its production, installed in artists’ studio.
‘Decenter’ is a two-part installation: a single video, which constantly reveals the conventions of the media, and a represented room of production. Media conventions are revealed in many different ways: usage of green screen, the changes in the backgrounds and so on. A different version of the same video is displayed on a separate screen. This installation decenters and shifts the attention from a unified and complete artwork to the process of its development.
Bibliography
Baudrillard, Jean. “The violence of Indifference”. The Conspiracy of Art. Ed. Sylvere Lotringer. Trans. Ames Hodges. New York: Semiotext, 2005.
Bourriaud, Nicolas. “Altermodern”, Tate Triennial, 2009.](http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lw5l46LMR81qbw1wko1_500.jpg)
Decenter, Installation View- Part 2, [artists’ studio, OCADU, room #158], 2011
Media, as a controlled application dependent on geographical and political situations, is deconstructed in ‘Decenter’. “One believes that power manipulates the masses through the popular media. One can also think that the reverse is true: it may be masses who neutralize and destabilize through the popular media” (Baudrillard 145). Today we experience uncontrollable expansion of cultural exchanges. In this situation “there are no longer cultural roots to sustain forms, no exact cultural base to serve as a benchmark for variations, no nucleus, no boundaries for artistic language” (Bourriaud 4). To accentuate this shift from benchmark to variations, ‘Decenter’ directs the viewer’s attention from a final looped video, to the process of its production, installed in artists’ studio.
‘Decenter’ is a two-part installation: a single video, which constantly reveals the conventions of the media, and a represented room of production. Media conventions are revealed in many different ways: usage of green screen, the changes in the backgrounds and so on. A different version of the same video is displayed on a separate screen. This installation decenters and shifts the attention from a unified and complete artwork to the process of its development.
Bibliography
Baudrillard, Jean. “The violence of Indifference”. The Conspiracy of Art. Ed. Sylvere Lotringer. Trans. Ames Hodges. New York: Semiotext, 2005.
Bourriaud, Nicolas. “Altermodern”, Tate Triennial, 2009.
![Decenter, Installation View- Part 2, [artists’ studio, OCADU, room #158], 2011
Media, as a controlled application dependent on geographical and political situations, is deconstructed in ‘Decenter’. “One believes that power manipulates the masses through the popular media. One can also think that the reverse is true: it may be masses who neutralize and destabilize through the popular media” (Baudrillard 145). Today we experience uncontrollable expansion of cultural exchanges. In this situation “there are no longer cultural roots to sustain forms, no exact cultural base to serve as a benchmark for variations, no nucleus, no boundaries for artistic language” (Bourriaud 4). To accentuate this shift from benchmark to variations, ‘Decenter’ directs the viewer’s attention from a final looped video, to the process of its production, installed in artists’ studio.
‘Decenter’ is a two-part installation: a single video, which constantly reveals the conventions of the media, and a represented room of production. Media conventions are revealed in many different ways: usage of green screen, the changes in the backgrounds and so on. A different version of the same video is displayed on a separate screen. This installation decenters and shifts the attention from a unified and complete artwork to the process of its development.
Bibliography
Baudrillard, Jean. “The violence of Indifference”. The Conspiracy of Art. Ed. Sylvere Lotringer. Trans. Ames Hodges. New York: Semiotext, 2005.
Bourriaud, Nicolas. “Altermodern”, Tate Triennial, 2009.](http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lw5kzw9CpE1qbw1wko1_500.jpg)
Decenter, Installation View- Part 2, [artists’ studio, OCADU, room #158], 2011
Media, as a controlled application dependent on geographical and political situations, is deconstructed in ‘Decenter’. “One believes that power manipulates the masses through the popular media. One can also think that the reverse is true: it may be masses who neutralize and destabilize through the popular media” (Baudrillard 145). Today we experience uncontrollable expansion of cultural exchanges. In this situation “there are no longer cultural roots to sustain forms, no exact cultural base to serve as a benchmark for variations, no nucleus, no boundaries for artistic language” (Bourriaud 4). To accentuate this shift from benchmark to variations, ‘Decenter’ directs the viewer’s attention from a final looped video, to the process of its production, installed in artists’ studio.
‘Decenter’ is a two-part installation: a single video, which constantly reveals the conventions of the media, and a represented room of production. Media conventions are revealed in many different ways: usage of green screen, the changes in the backgrounds and so on. A different version of the same video is displayed on a separate screen. This installation decenters and shifts the attention from a unified and complete artwork to the process of its development.
Bibliography
Baudrillard, Jean. “The violence of Indifference”. The Conspiracy of Art. Ed. Sylvere Lotringer. Trans. Ames Hodges. New York: Semiotext, 2005.
Bourriaud, Nicolas. “Altermodern”, Tate Triennial, 2009.
![Decenter, loop, Installation View- Part 2, [artists’ studio, OCADU, room #158], 2011
Media, as a controlled application dependent on geographical and political situations, is deconstructed in ‘Decenter’. “One believes that power manipulates the masses through the popular media. One can also think that the reverse is true: it may be masses who neutralize and destabilize through the popular media” (Baudrillard 145). Today we experience uncontrollable expansion of cultural exchanges. In this situation “there are no longer cultural roots to sustain forms, no exact cultural base to serve as a benchmark for variations, no nucleus, no boundaries for artistic language” (Bourriaud 4). To accentuate this shift from benchmark to variations, ‘Decenter’ directs the viewer’s attention from a final looped video, to the process of its production, installed in artists’ studio.
‘Decenter’ is a two-part installation: a single video, which constantly reveals the conventions of the media, and a represented room of production. Media conventions are revealed in many different ways: usage of green screen, the changes in the backgrounds and so on. A different version of the same video is displayed on a separate screen. This installation decenters and shifts the attention from a unified and complete artwork to the process of its development.
Bibliography
Baudrillard, Jean. “The violence of Indifference”. The Conspiracy of Art. Ed. Sylvere Lotringer. Trans. Ames Hodges. New York: Semiotext, 2005.
Bourriaud, Nicolas. “Altermodern”, Tate Triennial, 2009.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lw5ktxUl8d1qbw1wko1_500.jpg)
Decenter, loop, Installation View- Part 2, [artists’ studio, OCADU, room #158], 2011
Media, as a controlled application dependent on geographical and political situations, is deconstructed in ‘Decenter’. “One believes that power manipulates the masses through the popular media. One can also think that the reverse is true: it may be masses who neutralize and destabilize through the popular media” (Baudrillard 145). Today we experience uncontrollable expansion of cultural exchanges. In this situation “there are no longer cultural roots to sustain forms, no exact cultural base to serve as a benchmark for variations, no nucleus, no boundaries for artistic language” (Bourriaud 4). To accentuate this shift from benchmark to variations, ‘Decenter’ directs the viewer’s attention from a final looped video, to the process of its production, installed in artists’ studio.
‘Decenter’ is a two-part installation: a single video, which constantly reveals the conventions of the media, and a represented room of production. Media conventions are revealed in many different ways: usage of green screen, the changes in the backgrounds and so on. A different version of the same video is displayed on a separate screen. This installation decenters and shifts the attention from a unified and complete artwork to the process of its development.
Bibliography
Baudrillard, Jean. “The violence of Indifference”. The Conspiracy of Art. Ed. Sylvere Lotringer. Trans. Ames Hodges. New York: Semiotext, 2005.
Bourriaud, Nicolas. “Altermodern”, Tate Triennial, 2009.
![Decenter, Installation View- Part 2, [artists’ studio, OCADU, room #158], 2011
Media, as a controlled application dependent on geographical and political situations, is deconstructed in ‘Decenter’. “One believes that power manipulates the masses through the popular media. One can also think that the reverse is true: it may be masses who neutralize and destabilize through the popular media” (Baudrillard 145). Today we experience uncontrollable expansion of cultural exchanges. In this situation “there are no longer cultural roots to sustain forms, no exact cultural base to serve as a benchmark for variations, no nucleus, no boundaries for artistic language” (Bourriaud 4). To accentuate this shift from benchmark to variations, ‘Decenter’ directs the viewer’s attention from a final looped video, to the process of its production, installed in artists’ studio.
‘Decenter’ is a two-part installation: a single video, which constantly reveals the conventions of the media, and a represented room of production. Media conventions are revealed in many different ways: usage of green screen, the changes in the backgrounds and so on. A different version of the same video is displayed on a separate screen. This installation decenters and shifts the attention from a unified and complete artwork to the process of its development.
Bibliography
Baudrillard, Jean. “The violence of Indifference”. The Conspiracy of Art. Ed. Sylvere Lotringer. Trans. Ames Hodges. New York: Semiotext, 2005.
Bourriaud, Nicolas. “Altermodern”, Tate Triennial, 2009.](http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lw5kl9oq771qbw1wko1_500.jpg)
Decenter, Installation View- Part 2, [artists’ studio, OCADU, room #158], 2011
Media, as a controlled application dependent on geographical and political situations, is deconstructed in ‘Decenter’. “One believes that power manipulates the masses through the popular media. One can also think that the reverse is true: it may be masses who neutralize and destabilize through the popular media” (Baudrillard 145). Today we experience uncontrollable expansion of cultural exchanges. In this situation “there are no longer cultural roots to sustain forms, no exact cultural base to serve as a benchmark for variations, no nucleus, no boundaries for artistic language” (Bourriaud 4). To accentuate this shift from benchmark to variations, ‘Decenter’ directs the viewer’s attention from a final looped video, to the process of its production, installed in artists’ studio.
‘Decenter’ is a two-part installation: a single video, which constantly reveals the conventions of the media, and a represented room of production. Media conventions are revealed in many different ways: usage of green screen, the changes in the backgrounds and so on. A different version of the same video is displayed on a separate screen. This installation decenters and shifts the attention from a unified and complete artwork to the process of its development.
Bibliography
Baudrillard, Jean. “The violence of Indifference”. The Conspiracy of Art. Ed. Sylvere Lotringer. Trans. Ames Hodges. New York: Semiotext, 2005.
Bourriaud, Nicolas. “Altermodern”, Tate Triennial, 2009.
Decenter, loop, Installation View- Part 2, [artists’ studio, OCADU, room #158], 2011
Media, as a controlled application dependent on geographical and political situations, is deconstructed in ‘Decenter’. “One believes that power manipulates the masses through the popular media. One can also think that the reverse is true: it may be masses who neutralize and destabilize through the popular media” (Baudrillard 145). Today we experience uncontrollable expansion of cultural exchanges. In this situation “there are no longer cultural roots to sustain forms, no exact cultural base to serve as a benchmark for variations, no nucleus, no boundaries for artistic language” (Bourriaud 4). To accentuate this shift from benchmark to variations, ‘Decenter’ directs the viewer’s attention from a final looped video, to the process of its production, installed in artists’ studio.
‘Decenter’ is a two-part installation: a single video, which constantly reveals the conventions of the media, and a represented room of production. Media conventions are revealed in many different ways: usage of green screen, the changes in the backgrounds and so on. A different version of the same video is displayed on a separate screen. This installation decenters and shifts the attention from a unified and complete artwork to the process of its development.
Bibliography
Baudrillard, Jean. “The violence of Indifference”. The Conspiracy of Art. Ed. Sylvere Lotringer. Trans. Ames Hodges. New York: Semiotext, 2005.
Bourriaud, Nicolas. “Altermodern”, Tate Triennial, 2009.
Decenter, loop, Part 1, 2011
Media, as a controlled application dependent on geographical and political situations, is deconstructed in ‘Decenter’. “One believes that power manipulates the masses through the popular media. One can also think that the reverse is true: it may be masses who neutralize and destabilize through the popular media” (Baudrillard 145). Today we experience uncontrollable expansion of cultural exchanges. In this situation “there are no longer cultural roots to sustain forms, no exact cultural base to serve as a benchmark for variations, no nucleus, no boundaries for artistic language” (Bourriaud 4). To accentuate this shift from benchmark to variations, ‘Decenter’ directs the viewer’s attention from a final looped video, to the process of its production, installed in artists’ studio.
‘Decenter’ is a two-part installation: a single video, which constantly reveals the conventions of the media, and a represented room of production. Media conventions are revealed in many different ways: usage of green screen, the changes in the backgrounds and so on. A different version of the same video is displayed on a separate screen. This installation decenters and shifts the attention from a unified and complete artwork to the process of its development.
Bibliography
Baudrillard, Jean. “The violence of Indifference”. The Conspiracy of Art. Ed. Sylvere Lotringer. Trans. Ames Hodges. New York: Semiotext, 2005.
Bourriaud, Nicolas. “Altermodern”, Tate Triennial, 2009.
