Narges Mohammadi, Attempts for refuge, loam (sand, clay, and hay) and wood, 3.5 x 2 x 0.6 m (l x w x h); loam, wood, mattresses and pillows, 2.5 x 2.5 x 0.78 m (l x w x h), audio 08:18 min, 2021. As shown in the exhibition Who Wants To Live In A World Without Magic? curated by Katayoun Arian at TENT (Rotterdam). Photography by Marysia Swietlicka. Courtesy of Narges Mohammadi & Copperfield, London.
INFO
Attempts for refuge carries childhood memories depicted in two life size sculptures. Fascinated by the hallway as an interspace as a child, I desired to hide in the wardrobe, silently crawl inside, and imagine other realities to wander into at once. In this work, I metaphorically pushed the interior objects of a hallway through a wall of loam; leaving behind an empty space, like an echo of their existence.
The outlines of a wardrobe, a clothes rack, clothes hangers and coats, a table, a mirror, and shoes are visible. The impressions of the human touch on the softly effaced and fingerprinted surfaces of the loam suggest a longing for being freed from the rough stones. Through the hollow space, the silhouette of a mattress tower appears. A monument where seven mattresses and pillows hold hands. Their bodies intertwined like mine and my little brother’s fingers did when falling asleep in our mother’s bed, afraid of losing each other in our dreams. Inside the tower, a throbbing sound almost like a heartbeat reverberates through the space.
Many thanks to
Lizzy Bax, Iver Uhre Dahl, Philip Groubnov, Erik Kamaletdinov, Alex Webber, Yannik Güldner, Ariane Toussaint, Suyoung Yang, Paul Geideck, Rebecca Levy, Kamila Sipika, Natalia Nikoniuk, Stein van der Ziel, and the incredible team of TENT Rotterdam.
Made possible by
Karin Abt-Straubinger Stiftung
Kunstverein Wagenhalle
Stichting Stokroos
Stroom Den Haag
The Real Office