Ghodratollah Agheli
Audio of the Entire Interview
Interview Transcript
Part 01
I was actually born in Jolfa
Jolfa is a city close to the border and due to its border
It can be said that its people are more cultured compared to other places
Something I remember from elementary school
was when I went to school when I was 6, earlier than most
There was no particular reason, because I saw that all the children were given free food
I also insisted that I should go to school
Then I went to school at the age of 6 with a recommendation
But I loved school
I loved reading and writing and I was a great reader
And from the very first year I was a member of the library
I read Tintin books and simplified novels and
was persistent and at the same time my scores were good
Especially writing and spelling and most of the lessons related to literature
But my geometry and craftsmanship were also very good at school
My father owned a tool shop and it was always possible to have my toys
made by myself because it was not a toy and I liked it more
Or, for example, when they’d ask for the simplest craft at school
I’d make something hard and innovative
It continued like this until I was 13 or 14 years old, for example, when I read Jules Verne’s novels.
It was in my mind that, for example, building with engineering is very interesting to me
At that age, I wanted to design a helicopter because there were no such things and facilities in the city
and now these big dreams had to be turned into toys
Until the revolution took place and there was revolutionary passion
I was also a teenager and a reader
And also there were the stories of Behrangi and Talkhoun and these stories and poems
In school, we used to do wall newspapers and these things and articles that
we had to draw a picture next to each
It was from there that I almost looked and drew a lot in these areas
The next good thing was the school association, which had a ceremony every day
We had to write placards for them and such things
From here, things got trickier, and this is where the true meaning of life lies
In war, well, we were the generation of Westerners and the love of guns
I was 14 years old when I went to the front voluntarily
I went to the front every quarter for almost a year
I was still painting in advertising there
When I returned from the front, I went to the conservatory and studied painting until 1988
I was actually painting and I was making a kind of relief next to it.
It was a technical and engineering situation and building in a way that was in my family and myself
But after I came to Tehran, I wanted to go to university and there were no other facilities
And I had to pay for food and shelter, so I got a job
Well, I was not a strong enough painter to design film decor and special things
and it was like making a replica and that’s it
Which had both income and I was doing a work of art
From here, I was recruited at Hozeh honari, and well, at that time, there was no other place very active
And it was only Hozeh Honari that did something
At that time, the atmosphere was good, for example, it was a poetry atmosphere and the library was very good
I, too, who are well thirsty for these things, came from the county
external sources, photographs and history of modern painting
And my time in these 4 years was almost spent doing work and studying
Go to poetry sessions and go to the movie
These both had an income and added to my academic load
There were no other active art centers at that time
You go to them and see what happens
It was the only place for a lot of people like us
Who were looking for a space to do art work
In the same way in every corner of Hozeh Honari at that time
For example, Mr. Khosrojerdi or Mr. Chalipa were painting and we would go to them.
Well, most of them were kids at the College of Fine Arts
Or, for example, the photographers came, Mr. Mohsen Rastani, Mr. Farnood or Mr. Kaveh Golestan himself.
And they’d have exhibitions, it was a very good start for the atmosphere at that time
It was during this time that many of my works tended towards embossed works
And I tried very hard to ask those friends who were in Hozeh Honari at the time
to let me to go to the sculpture workshop to continue my work
But it was a special space, and it was early sculpture, and it had just begun
And well those friends were afraid to find a new competitor, they would not let anyone in
That’s why I was saying, what should I do?
I was going to a blacksmith workshop
There were some workers in the blacksmith shop who we became friends with
I’d pay a small fee and made sculptures with iron
Then, little by little, this became my job
I studied painting in the conservatory and I painted a lot
But I never became a professional, as in several festivals and such
I did a lot of work, I made film decor, I photographed
I did my best to get stuck somewhere
Sculpture has all these things, especially sculpture today
It is more multimedia and obviously no longer requires special tools, materials and expertise
And the good thing is that I have all these experiences like film, cinema, decor, bronze, iron and wood.
that had before, helps me a lot now
The earlier I came to Tehran, it was mostly because of the work environment and friendship
I had with Mr. Khosrojerdi, who was a first-rate painter and graphic artist
He was very creative and intelligent people and I learned a lot from him
We had a mutual friendship with Mr. Khosrojerdi and Mr. Makhmalbaf
for many years, it was ten or twenty years
I was one of the events of Mr. Makhmalbaf’s films
That means we were friends together and we were mostly together and we were in his work space
Now the places where I could help, for example, were more technical and artistic
And I always helped with or without Mr. Khosrojerdi
Or the friendships that Mr. Khosrojerdi had, for example, with the theater people
It caused us to do a series of theater decor works with Ms. Pari Saberi
We did two or three things together, one is Mourning of Siavash
with Mr. Khosrojerdi, we made all the stage equipment ourselves
There were a couple of other jobs, some of which did not require much accessory
But we were aware of what was going on, especially during the time of Mr. Sharif Khodaei
and Mr. Pakdel who were in the theater department, we were always there
When theatrical kids needed something, we tried to do it
The same is true in the film, for example, in the film Tales of Kish
I helped Mr. Jalili and Taghvai a lot
Simultaneously with the film Tales of Kish, for example, I made four or five sculptures in Kish
I made the statue of the old man and the sea based on Hemingway’s novel
Then I made a very large twenty-meter work with iron, which is a watchtower
These all coincided with the film Tales of Kish
More than my friends who are sculptors
There are painters, photographers, filmmakers, actors or cinematographers
So am I, which means I have my own film archive
I have an archive of my novels and literature, they are also my sculptures
And along with research work and things like that
I wrote articles, essays and exhibition reviews, and at the same time I made sculptures.
The first large and fine sculpture exhibition, many of which were made of iron
On the two floors of the Barg Gallery was a beautification organization
It was in the early days of the Karbaschi municipality that Ms. Taghian was also present
This exhibition became the first steps of my career with iron sculptures
What year was this?
This exhibition was around the year 91, 92
Part 02
The first period of my work, which can be said to be the first steps to get to know me
was a collection of works that were mostly metal works
Most of the local and folk nostalgia was in these works
It was a nostalgia for childhood, a child riding a wheelbarrow, the work of this brigad
They were a group of birds and chickens, with iron and welding
They were very good, the works had a very good individual expression
I was more involved with the material and the sculpture itself, I was not much looking for other things
Mostly the same sculpture, structure, static and volumetric searches
The element of movement, the element of texture and structure and things of this brigade were my favorite
This date can be said to have been almost from 1988 to about 1392 and 1393
In that exhibition, even though the prices were not high at that time, it was the same 20, 30, 40 tomans.
And of course the pays were the same then, I sold my work compared to that time
It was a good period, after that, now that I think about it
I wish I had continued the same procedure in that order
And I think there was a rupture, and well, I found myself again later
That is, the first exhibition causes a number of different offers and self-absorption
If one thinks that there is news, one must go beyond this and get away from one’s normal way
And a gap was created
Later, I moved away from that very personal, romantic and nostalgic atmosphere
And I found a new trend through poetry because I was very interested in poetry
And I was also doing calligraphy. Well, I had some talent
I was attracted to prominent designs with Iranian motifs, especially motifs of the Islamic period
For example, I made a collection of embossed designs
I needed to collect some designs
Then I collected a series of designs that were mostly surface and worked well
I made a collection of this type, which was later presented in silk screen printing
That is, it was not directly related to the relief and the sculpture, but it was a good working process
Or, for example, I worked on a collection of birds made with Islamic motifs
Which itself was superficial, meaning it was more graphic work
And later some of them became sculptures and influenced my work
That is, they were a prelude to something better
After this periode, I was assigned to research a dissertation
Well, I participated in this doctoral dissertation
That was a student state with research and it was good for me
I was both getting paid and studying, and my knowledge was increasing
This made me make a fundamental reflection on modern art from September 1940 to 1990
That is, to know fifty years of contemporary Iranian art
Of all the magazines, they were not available at the time
Through microfilm and acid and ammonia and so on, we went to the National Library and so on and so forth.
It was not like now to search and come to print the subject
This is how I found and collected articles
And well, naturally I read them and then I separated them
In fact, it made me know modern Iranian art, and that’s why
I became acquainted with prominent professors of the Saqakhaneh school such as Mr. Tanavoli, Zandarroudi and Qandriz.
From there, I became interested in Iranian art and most of the Islamic period
was very impressed by those things, then I wanted to look at those things now
Follow a new chapter in my own way and personally
The whole thing became a book of my works in these eight years called From Volume to Lily
Which were almost embossed works, designs and motifs
Later, many of those works became volumetric sculptures, very large works that
were installed in different cities of Iran such as Isfahan, Tabriz, Tehran and Bushehr
These works and designs were very sympathetic to the works of Mr. Parviz Tanavoli
Of course, I was interested in his work
But I wanted to be in the creation of those things myself
However, the motifs and the type of dealing with those concepts, materials and general structure of the sculptures
Eventually, made me always associate the Saqakhaneh masters in my works
But well, I liked it and I worked very lovingly
And I was involved with them for almost ten years
The third period of my work was entirely with the collection of spheres, a period in which I was again concerned with poetry.
Mr. Barirani had worked on a series of calligraphy and designs
Based on the poems of Rumi, Masnavi and Divan Shams
From there, I became very involved in this idea, although I already had this conflict
for a year, I read almost all of Rumi
And I was looking to be able to bring these closer to my workspace
However, any concept is not considered a work of art if it does not take the form
And as a rule, I tried to turn these into forms
And in those searches the subconscious is involved in fluid physics, quantum physics, microcosms,
quarks and particles, that is, I was drawn this way from Eastern mysticism
And it was a very good period, I did a very good search
spiritually and achieving an inner belief and breaking free from attachment and liberation
That set started from earth to sky, that is, its axis was that
From the so-called microscopic particle that is in front of our eyes
Which are tiny and I turned them into volumes and celestial bodies like 500 million
A star in the sky and we look at them from a distance, we also see it partially
It was a game from earth to sky with this particle
Which goes well with reading, poetry, searches and readings
I had about 500 designs from this collection
I exhibited this collection for the first time in Hana Gallery
It was close to 100 works
All the works were made of bronze and the brass metal was made of steel
It was suited to be mirror like
Because it had many holographic concepts, vacuum discussions and negative spaces
The spatial values of my work were really good there
And in a way, due to the nature of the poem, the works were very minimal
They had a fractal structure, a lot of architecture
Some of the works were colored, my hand was very open
And at the same time, the forms themselves were very well cooked and well, there were nearly 100 works
There was a distance after the set of spheres, but in the distance a mass exhibition was held
I did that I was more interested in pursuing poetry and the concepts and mysticism of the East.
It was a lot of work with wheels and birds
It was an exhibition with five, six works
Which had wheels on which were a series of birds
After that, a distance fell because I got involved in the site of Iran sculpture
In late 2009, when the Internet and Facebook became so pervasive, there were gaps
One of the gaps we had was that, for example, you searched for everything in Persian
There was no information about the sculpture
And I myself sometimes referred as needed
I saw that we had no resources at all in this regard
That is, we have no definite path for a student, a student, or an interested person
He wants to go that way in the field of sculpture
For example, a person wants to choose a field or know this field
Or a student who is involved in a dissertation and wants to
Do research on an artist, especially sculpture
There were no resources, well I said let us come and do it in a very codified and calculated way
Then we introduced 200 influential artists, stylists and foreigners in Persian
And we put links to foreign sites
One Hundred Years of New Sculpture was a book I wrote myself
Which we put on the site completely, which became our axis
In addition, we introduced 200 Iranian sculptors
From Ali Akbar Hajar, the first sculptor in the court of Nasser al-Din Shah
or professors who had died and many did not know until today and the youth
Well, we found a lot of material and articles from different books
We typed and edited them again
And then it was coded and went on the site
Or we scanned the images one by one and prepared them for display on the site
All those articles that until now, that is, from September 1940
That visual activities in Iran have been pursued very seriously until today
Everything was articles and magazines that were published, even pre-revolutionary magazines
We reassembled all that was available
Well, there were many artists who were not in Iran at all
Or they were dead and we did not have access to them
We scanned and used these collected images for them
And then we added everything that was article and bibliography in this field
That is, there were so few resources that we thought of everything that could be provided for the site
Several runaway biennials have already been held
We transferred all this information to the site and it became usable online
In general, it can be said that everything happened in relation to Iranian sculpture
and there were sources about them
We prepared all of them and placed the sculpture on the Iran site
Then different sections, different styles and techniques, different approaches
Sculptures of celebrities and urban sculptures, we divided them all
And now all this is on the site and everyone who visits
He can see these completely scientifically and with an academic method
There was a section on the site where there were reports, interviews and news that we were updating
I do not know why, but the site was hacked several times
I saw some of these unkind behaviors
I have not updated the content since 2012
But the site is very rich in terms of research
That is, I can say that as a specialized website with a specific discipline
I have not seen anyone like him in Iran
Part 03
The fourth period of my work thematically consists of three periods
Which, in fact, is a whole period, but its part is about three periods
It can be said that after the collection of spheres, my first exhibition was a collection of works called Venus in the Land of Suffering
I used bronze again, but with different encounters
Various media and materials such as light, sound and liquid were used
I was the first to put these together
It was bronze and LCD with neon and video that helped the main concept of the work.
That is, there was a main structure of the statue and a video inside, and these were complementary to each other, they had a gift and an ice cream cone.
And in fact, the root of this was where we got involved in the media
After all, Iran Sculpture website was a medium, and its nature was that we had to go every day to check all the sites in the world and the calls.
ell, two thousand festivals and biennials are held in the world every year
And we looked at those whose calls suited us
Later, content about foreign artists was gradually translated and added to the site
Later, when I came to my work, in fact, these sculptures became a kind of media.
I wanted my work to be talked about, without stuttering and easily
And I can sculpt with my personal concerns and social, political concerns and all those things that were my preoccupation and mentality.
And these sculptures are understandable to people around
For example, I knew that in the Sphere collection, I actually went to the end of the waiting, that is, I went through the whole thing.
cause of force of time or a situation where I felt I had to talk
Maybe it was the hatreds and actions that should have occurred
My type of work became that type and it is still the same
The first collection of this period was the collection of Venus in the Land of Suffering
This name was actually my mentality and it was not a completely negative view, I do not have a negative view but I do not have a positive view either.
That is to say, the meaning of these works was a satire at the end of the disaster
I mean, this is basically all my next work, a smile that is likely to cry at any moment.
Or in the middle of every cry, there might be laughter, that is, it was a simeltanous tragedy comedy
Somehow our life here is like this, it means it is not very serious, it means we are neither serious sadness nor happy
These were my new perceptions of the space around me
After that successful and very good exhibition, I didn’t want to continue that collection
Because it was selling well, I thought that if I continued it, I would get away from myself
Now, for example, it tasted good and I did not make money, I gave a basic cut and changed the space at all.
That series of the gradual death of a smile was the next set
These works were again research, conceptual and different, and had an installation structure and an exhibition mode
And they were not portable and everyone would buy them and take them home
And this exhibition was very good, it was a project that I was very involved in and it was very expensive
Because everything was innovative and different, it was associated with electromechanics, imaging, television, motion, LED, and LCD.
And at the same time, they expressed the same mentality that I was involved with
And now three of those works have been selected for the Venice Biennale, one of which is the work of chandeliers made with bullets.
Next is what I did with Kiarostami’s films and it has an electromechanical and moving mode with a wiper
And next was the thing you ride on your bike, and for forty years the calendar moves in front of your eyes and passes.
That too was very important to me, and the root of gradual death was a smile
Because you were sitting on a bicycle, you were riding a bicycle, and with each ride, three years of the Iranian calendar came in front of you.
It was very interesting to me that in the last forty years, for example, we had three or four national celebrations where all the people laughed together.
Like the liberation of Khorramshahr, Iran going to the World Cup and a few such events that had a national and collective spirit in them
That work is still there and I like it very much
These were things that were very time consuming and costly to develop, but creativity, innovation, and these quests were very sweet to me.
Because anyway, my previous exhibition had good sales, I had some kind of financial security for myself and my family, I would like to have this experience in this one year as well.
After this series, an exhibition was scheduled to be held with the focus on oil, but I saw this in the Middle East
And I started a series of work that focuses on oil and barrels and that and what is happening in the Middle East.
The Middle East complex is nearing completion and is nearing completion, with about thirty works to be done
You have all the issues, the same mental concerns that, for example, from the oil industry, whoever is a capitalist or ISIL, or the loss of oil, there were many different views.
There were small works in this collection, most of which were sold, various editions
I have had about 20, 25 solo exhibitions so far, and I participate in several group exhibitions throughout the year.
The exhibition is a kind of calendar etiquette that during the year you showed your searches and usually different viewers and in Iran more artists come to see the works.
And it is reviewed, discussed and talked about, and that helps the next project
Now some of these are constructive, some are destructive
In the past, when there were not so many sales, these were discussions, but now there is also a discussion about sales, and economically, you can prepare the ground for the next project.
And in a way, you are testing yourself, to know where is your place at all?
نThere is a constructive critique or critique that is very good and unfortunately we do not have it, or there is more of a striking critique that has its roots in not beating at all.
It’s the same for me, I always made sure to know why I was upset, I see because I did not understand I was upset and if I understood I was not upset anymore
Anything you do not understand is upseting, the criticism is the same, either you did not understand the other party or he did not understand you.
It had no effect on me, because I would never have moved forward if I had to pay attention to these things
I try to work on my beliefs, my faith, my work and myself more than I see what others say.
I understand my faith and beliefs through my inner peace, where it is calming me, I know it is true and I will move it forward.
And others will always express their opinions, and well, there are always different opinions, and it is not possible to answer them, nor can they all be justified.
They are responsible for their own work and we are responsible for our own work
Part 04
I would like to divide my work into three general sections
Well, part of that passion is youth and work
And the other part is researching and knowing one’s own culture
And the last part is knowing the form and space, like the spheres collection
In the last section, more attention is paid to the concept, that is, if in the previous sections the priority was with the form, space or structure of the sculpture.
In my last work, the first priority was with the concept
That is, it leads me to the concept of what my work material is
I do not care at all whether it must be bronze, brass or iron, it can be light, sound or anything else, it is more a decisive concept
My previous sculptures were mostly made of iron, but now I work more easily with bronze and brass.
I am very comfortable with them, I can mold anything quickly
Some of my work is something prepared that I find, it’s more about finding and putting together
Then I convert these, mold them and cast them quickly, I can weld or cut them.
There is an austerity in their construction that is attractive to me, which means that this austerity is part of my work
The stone is very hard, I can’t reach it, the wood is too soft, I force it too much
You can do this with other materials, but there are two issues
One is that I naturally like a bit of austerity, which means that the hard metal challenge is good for me, it calms me down.
Being hot, its burning, these things are interesting to me
And I can easily cut, add and subtract, the structural discussion is very good for me
Well, being a bit stylish and luxurious is also important for the customer, so what’s wrong?
I’m not a repetitive person, if I were you I had so much design now that I would be contaminated with jewelry at that time and I would not have time to scratch my head and I would be a billionaire, but I am not looking for it at all
There is an intermediate, I am still satisfied with these things, that is, they satisfy me internally.
What I want to say, I do with this material, with this gender
Well, the customer also buys this work, now he has two, three editions(series) that if I sell one of them for a price, at least the next cost of my work will be paid.
That now, because they are buying this, I want to repeat it, no!
I can not do any custom work at all, I do not know
There are some professions that can do anything but I do not, I am a person between improvisation and engineering, everything is intermediate
Sometimes if I use animal figures, for example, it is a metaphor for human
It is a part of man or a part of human personality, if it is a lion, a cow or a sheep, we have all these in our personality.
That is, there are definitely a number of behaviors that underlie it
In general, this is for me, especially in the human figure, and specifically the state of Hercules and heroism
I was looking for a so-called pop art that came from Iranian culture
And these Hercules of mine have some kind of roots in history and mythology as well as some kind of heroic roots.
Well, we have a heroic culture in Iran, which are very clear examples
In heroism there is generosity, forgiveness, forgiveness and the spirit of struggle, there are many good things in you
As cultural destruction may have occurred in antiquities, I look more here at the destruction of community culture.
Human culture is the behavioral culture of a society that is being destroyed
I thought, for example, that the only thing I could find to reach the physical element of that concept was this
You know, because there is heroism and then there is the story of Shahnameh and Fotnameh, and all these things that are in our past culture were all good.
Many times we did not have the legal system and these stories in this country like Europe, America, Switzerland and other places.
We had some human behavior, they have a legal system in Europe or anywhere in the world
If someone fall, others immediately call the emergency, a helicopter comes and takes him away, they fix the situation, there is law and insurance.
But we never had these things in order
The culture that we become indifferent to and pass over, and that humanity which we forget
I mean the destruction of this culture, not, for example, the destruction of the Achaemenid heritage, part of which, for example, went under the dam, they will be destroyed whether we like it or not.
They are also being destroyed in Europe, for example, in World War II some churches were destroyed in the bombing.
But there are some things that are our own culture, and in my opinion, for example, the greatest Iranian filmmaker who has offered another cinema to the world and accepted it, is rooted in this culture.
Like homework and other works, I learned from these places
I believe that if a person is going to say something, there is no reason for you to wrap it up and put it in an envelope and a thousand other kinds of stories.
You know, I look like this, that is, if I were to be in abstraction, minimalism, mysticism, space, and these things, I would continue to make a good set of spheres.
He was human, he understood, and he was very special, but when I was going to talk to everyone, I knew it was kind of kitsch.
kitsch is a concept that wants to go to people’s homes
There is everything, there is show off, there is art, there is meaning,
I have to do my duty, I think everyone in this universe has a duty and a mission, something has been assigned to them that they have to do.
nd you have to do it right, now it doesn’t matter if one is Rembrandt’s ability and one is Rodin’s ability and one is Michelangelo, one is, for example, an African primitive
Everyone has done their job as best they can and is usually in their place
I never insist on doing things I do not know I must do and do badly
I always do what I know to do, but I do it right
I mean, it ‘s always been a case. Friends said you want to turn this into a project, and I said, well, I’m like this.
If I have to do something, I do it right from the start
This path is taken by some people wrong, for example, they are looking for money in art, there are better ways to make money
If it’s for being famous, you know that the visual arts have no superstar at all.
Because when you do visual work, there are some things that are common but very personal.
There is a way for a person to go and reach his own world
Rothko, for example, refuses several millions to do his job
And then he goes to the best secluded and quiet church where you can really see God and build there with his works.
Well, that person is on the right track, which means that he did not come because I am Rutko. You paid so much money.
Those who remain in the history of art were this type, that is, they were looking for their own world, and now they had a social dimension and were also influential.
Well, that’s fine too, but that’s not the point, for example, if you sell a sculpture for $ 10 million, well, what good is it to me?
There are so many other things, so many other things
If someone is looking for him, if he has genius, if he has perseverance, he will go
Part 05
A work of art does not come into being just like that
And the artists are not prophets to be suddenly inspired to go tomorrow morning and make something
And as a rule, if you want to do original work, of course, this idea must come from somewhere.
Now this idea becomes very scientific if it comes from your knowledge
If it comes from your life, it will be a primitive (primitive art) experience
But if these factors are combined, I think there will be a good artistic event
And this is something that you have, for example, visual knowledge, scientific knowledge, art or literature
Now you have the background of poetry, story, novel, film or music that is in your nature
And then you have a lived experience, like bitterness, joys, sorrows, losses, gains.
And then I think you have to do it the way you should
Combining these, there is usually something that I think is called art, and this is permanent.
And most of the masterpieces of art that you look at have the same property
For example, if I want to give an example, the experience of Joseph Boyce, who was a pilot in World War II.
Which fell and was close to death, but the Eskimos kept it alive with oil and felt
His bowl is iron and he has surgery, he has experienced these and well, when he does something, you do not need to know these at all and his work is effective and you like him.
And then you go and read his story and you see that this person had these conditions
Or Mr. Bill Viola, the video artist whose element of all his work is water, because I do not know this person as a child in the sea or pool, but he was about to suffocate with water
That suffocation and seeing death with water is now seen in his works in the same way
Then the same childhood experience with today’s knowledge with a look at Eastern philosophy and the combination of the main elements of the universe, water, wind and soil creates works that are among the best video art.
In my opinion, these create lasting effects, and I do not know any other way.
Especially photography and video art or experimental events like this are like long trips to me.
Long trips with minimal facilities, not tourist trips
These journeys are full of different experiences, people, languages, dialects and events.
The sculpture has a definition of what it really is, what it is, and where it is placed
It depends on the time, place, space where the work is to be seen
Well, as a rule, it can have several main factors, such as material, structure and concept, that all these elements are put together in a professional and very good way.
The best example of this is that you look like a good portrait with eyes, nose and lips.
Now these works can have any subject, if it is an urban work, it has an expression, it is a portrait, it is a characterization or a simulation.
It is a decorative work, whether the element of decoration is properly defined in it, all of these are important
Then it becomes the criterion that, after all, the essence and basis of any work of art is form
How were these form or forms put together correctly?
My subjects were a model before this last trilogy, that is, they used to be more nostalgic and very personal.
A part of which had a written form, that is, a reference to the glorious history and past of Iran
Now I am interested in the graphic element or their structure, feeling or expression
Part of that era was in the field of poetry and literature and things like that
But this last set has completely social subjects and can be said to be more sociological or socio-political that existed around me.
For my last work, I used to walk more in the city and on the streets, looking at shop windows and shops.
I do this for a whole month, I see everything and I am in the community
Either I travel or the news is sometimes very influential
Then in a certain period I see all this and then in the next period I see nothing and I just design
Then, from the lab of these, my work will come out
In general, I am a person who tries to be orderly, now I am because of these friendships I had with cinematic people and cinema because it is inherently orderly.
Cinema is a modern phenomenon, it has a special discipline, that’s why this order and subjectivity is kindda in me.
Then, even if I work on a free and public work, it still has a theme and subject
For example, the subject of the Middle East, now you can influence the Middle East through photos, videos and news, or you can travel and see it up close.
Or topics that bother you personally, usually for me personally it starts with words
My work has always been like this, and it may be because of my childhood and books and novels, and because I have some kind of story.
I’m not a storyteller, but somehow there is always a story
Then I come to a line that is a text and I would like to translate that text physically.
For example, what you see is a big lion holding a hand on its head ……… it means humiliation
Because in the old days in schools, people who wanted to be humiliated or now those who want to go around the place, throw their heads ………
This is where the root of this work comes from, and this is how I turn that word of humiliation into image and physics.
I like to give it the most memorable state, which means that its memory stability is strong.
I mean, when you saw this lion of mine, everywhere, even if you saw the lion of the zoo, you first remembered my lion.
A wolf with wings is different and stays in mind, or a lion that eventually shaves its head, mane and copala.
Or anyone who lifts the earth now lifts the barrel of oil
In these works, I look for subjects that are different, such as a speaker on which an owl is sitting
These have nothing to do with each other, but in general, when you want to turn a sentence into a work, I go from realism to surrealism in expressing these.
I go through processes like this, as I said, it starts first with the word, then with the design, and then with the replica.
With a replica, because sculpture is costly, and you usually have to come up with a whole with a precious material and then turn it into a material, the process is as follows.
Part 06
My life is a sculpture, It’s my idea all the time, I have never missed an opportunity because there is no guarantee
Because you can not say this period is for my art and that period is for my family
Everything is together, I travel with my family, we go shopping together, we go to museums, galleries and exhibitions, we go to restaurants
Our life is like this, I dress and work in the studio from morning till night
I go home at night, I buy from the supermarket and I go and sit with my family, watch movies, talk and have dinner together.
Now, in the middle of all this, we are discussing art and watching an art film
Everyone in my life is related to my work, my friends are related to my work
I watch movies, I read books, everything I do and in any space I have is related to my work and all of these make me happy
My studio is in the middle of the city because I do not want to lose contact
As much as sculpture is important to me, sculptors, painters and artists are important to me.
I see a lot of people, people want to be whoever they are, be it an artist or not, whatever job they have, be a carpenter or a driver, whoever they are
Before that, I think a lot about the human element of that person, whether he is a person like me, has a family and a wife and children, or is a father.
He is worried, he is in debt, it means that it is my view that he is a human being first
Then if I can deal with it, now I see other things
I always tell my colleagues that whoever you are, go to Mars and have an exhibition, but let’s have a cup of tea together, have a good time, this is more important to me
It is a part of the works of past masters of the history of teaching art and shows you the way
Part of it is the technique that gives you the confidence and courage to work with that material.
A look like this can have no other effect, then it can be a copy, which is another discussion.
But the fact that a person was able to show this concept with this material and feeling, well, this is a good example.
I always looked like this and tried to learn that path from all the professors
Because material is so important in sculpture, material is a defining element
And that a sculptor thinks and sees which words can be easily spoken and which can be said.
Many things that are not successful are due to the fact that the arrangement of the elements together did not happen correctly.
All art schools want to teach us how to convey the feeling
To be lasting, to be unique, and then to become a landmark work
If I were to ever have a sculpture, I would love to have a work by Giacometti
Those skinny, stocky, and emotional people, mostly because of their own expressiveness.
It has some kind of material poverty but it has spiritual richness in it, I like that
I try to do my job in the most correct way, now this is the most correct from my own point of view
My literacy rate, my family upbringing, my nature and consciousness and everything else, I think what is right
And I try to choose the right way, to do the best, the healthiest, the most accurate, and all the things that I think are right.
One look is that I always wanted to turn everything into an opportunity
This has always been in me, that is, it was supposed that when, for example, I was paid 6, 7 million tomans from Hozeh Honari for visual work.
Beside it, I will go to work on films, poems, stories, novels, researches and do these things or turn them into work.
Or when I was doing custom work or learning something, I tried to bring it to our work of art.
Make a collection with what I learned or the new material I found
I have always believed that one learns more from discussion than from class, college, and school
And it always has been that we have never had any space for these artists of ours to discuss their experiences.
And that erosive part I think is my only problem with my job
I feel like it took me 7, 8 years to find myself
And there was no one to tell you the way from here, you all have to turn, try and make mistakes to find your way
My only regret may be about this, but I’m not upset anymore, there is always a way to excel.
And you can always read and see, and these were always forward
That’s why I try to tell everyone my experiences, failures and successes now and whoever they are.
Then I will say, Dear Sir, do not go this way, you will get stuck, this is your next job, and go so that you can reach the address as soon as possible so that your life is not wasted.
I had a teacher in the conservatory, he was a very first class teacher, he was one of those who understood Impressionism very well
He was a good man, he went to the villages of Azerbaijan and painted villages, cows and houses with a completely impressionistic look.
You saw hundreds of colors in the details of his work, he was a very good person in painting
Tabriz itself has a school of painting and he closed all his works for a certain period and clung to these marketing and export works to Turkey.
The Bajlanlus were in Tabriz at that time whose subject matter was the same fruit, knife and watermelon and these things.
I said, “Master, it’s not a pity you waste so much time.” He said, “No, I decided to do this for a while.”
Make good money and then go to Tehran to work quietly in the studio and make another life and sit down and do my favorite things
And the same person later his financial situation improved, he came to Tehran and bought an office and went to Hassanabad Square to buy a table and a chair. The bus hit him there and he died, just as easily.
There is no guarantee, and everyone should enjoy
That “Momentum” is important, nothing in this universe is connected to a place that has a base, everything is in a vacuum and space
There is nothing, the whole life and existence is the same
Then now how should us, who are in this are living, take this seriously
We had neither the authority of the next life nor the authority of this one
You had no saying in your birth or death
You live with the force of nature, well, when I do not believe in the bottom line and I do not know how, why should I take it seriously?
I am in this predestination and I try to enjoy