2021, LOOK UP RESIDENCY
LOOK UP RESIDENCY 2021
Project Statement: Look Up 2021:
Look Up is a collection of fresh visual artworks commissioned to be exhibited in public outdoor spaces spanning across Leicester, Manchester, and Portsmouth. These works are the creative outputs of international artists Rita Adib, Parham Ghalamdar, Bahzad Sulaiman, and Ally Zlatar. They have been guided and nurtured under the mentorship of Rachel Dobbs and Adam Broomberg.
Each artist has manifested their distinct and personal perspective, crafting artworks that relay messages, narratives, and visuals in response to themes such as well-being, mental health, cultural greetings, national identity, borders, and privilege.
These Look Up pieces were cultivated during collaborative artistic residencies at Aspex Portsmouth in the UK and Coculture in Berlin, Germany.
Artist Focus - Parham Ghalamdar:
Due to the inaccessibility of his artist studio amidst the National Lockdown in 2020, Parham Ghalamdar ventured into the digital sphere. He began experimenting with digital animation and AI-generated media, aiming to extend his traditional painting practice into the digital world.
During his tenure in the Look Up 2021 residency programme, Ghalamdar employed an AI engine to examine the flags of 253 distinct nations, deciphering patterns to generate new flag designs. This investigation culminated in a series of both moving and still images that echo the aesthetic of Mark Rothko's paintings, albeit in a state of constant transformation.
The task assigned to the AI engine, searching for commonalities in flags designed to express distinction and demarcate borders, results in an inherent paradox, hence the glitchy aesthetic of the resulting images.
Ghalamdar's works, framed within a Science-Fiction approach, invite viewers to engage in a collective and social practice of imagination. This encourages thinking beyond binaries. The dynamic, borderless flags, unanchored to any specific nation, serve as a reminder of the transitory nature of positions and the inevitable reality of change.
Find out more on the website of Journeys Festival International.
Photos courtesy of Strong Island and Drew Forsyth Photography. Commissioned by ArtReach for Liberty EU at Journeys Festival International 2021, co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.
EMBEDDED MEDIA
https://www.youtube.com/embed/4tGUqF0-pRg
