Description
The Lockdown is a virtual exhibition recalling COVID-19 era experiences told through interactive audio-visual installations. The project weaves together stories from my perspective as an Iranian-Canadian woman, with knowledge about the symbolic patterns of Persian carpets. As objects representing the home space, carpets have witnessed the mental and physical health challenges of people, news of the global pandemic, and memories of the stay-at-home days. Visitors to the gallery can visually explore images of the carpets and hear a layering of voices in English and Farsi, telling stories of the era. This virtual space, with its carpets and associated vocals, depicts two cultures separated by distance and how they are brought together online in this moment, sharing the same experiences and challenges.
The first web version was showcased at MOWNA, followed by the second version at The Show at ECU. The recently created VR version was featured at GEMFest 2024.
Received Inaugural BGML NMSA award. Read more here.
Visit the gallery (Web version) here.
On January 25th the first case of Covid-19 was found in Canada, and on January 28th the first case was found in BC. On may 16th people began strict physical distancing and working/studying from home. On March 21st businesses shut down due to the virus. This is a recap of the Covid milestone for British Colombians. The whole world has been experiencing challenging days from the first day this virus appeared. On February 19th, Iran reported its first confirmed case. Lockdowns are still going on in some cities in Iran.
During the lockdown because of this outbreak, I was impressed when I saw how people were finding their own creative ways of living in quarantine. People around the world tried to communicate with each other, study, work from home, follow the news, and etc. in this quarantine, and all of these were possible via the internet. I, as an artist, wanted to take action and capture these unprecedented moments. Therefore I came up with the idea of creating a soundscape (forms and arises from an immersive environment) through a virtual sound installation about this era, to be published and heard over the internet. It is hard to experience the tactile quality in an art installation in the age of Covid, therefore I aimed to create a tangible art. The one people can understand by their ears and brain, rather than by touching or being physically close to.
I intended to capture a sonic memory out of this significant historical era, the lockdown. I believe these are the moments that should be archived to recall how a small virus would be able to change human life worldwide. Through this project I narrate my personal experience and memories during this time, the challenges I struggled with, the news I heard, and some changes in my life and the society.
Concept: I intended to capture the pandemic era from the perspective of an Iranian woman who lives in Canada. I collected news and sound recordings (field and voice), to represent the changes in the world (Canada and Iran) caused by this outbreak, and the different impacts.
Impacts on: (Each room of this gallery would represent one of these impacts)
- Mental and physical health
- Human emotions and challenges
- Economy
- Art production
- Environment
- Human presence in society
Medium: This is an immersive virtual sound and visual installation (to evoke a virtual gallery space). I found VR the best medium to project my work and to amplify my voice. My biggest goal for creating this project in a virtual form, is to give the opportunity to all people around the world (specially those ones that cannot travel for whatever reason), to have access to created arts and installations from the other parts of the world. We are all used to being in a curatorial space to see an art installation. I want to challenge this belief and make my installation virtual. I want us to think about those who are not privileged to be wherever they want to (e.g. to be in an art exhibition in Canada). Therefore I share the experience of my installation with the world over the internet.
