ONLY AND ONLY IF YOU STARE AT MY HANDS*
Performance
6 min and 40 sec
Filming by Jakub Bobrowski & Johan Eichhorn
Produced in Espoo, 2017
Presented in Azad Gallery, Tehran, 2018
Thing (-ing) series*
I sliced seven tomatoes in half using a knife. Afterward, I cut one leg of my pants, exposing my knee. I bent my leg and rested my foot on a stool. Carefully, I placed the halved tomatoes on my knee, one by one, and proceeded to crush them using a designated object designed for this purpose.
*Thing(-ing) refers to a state of interaction with objects, where the interpretive mind takes a backseat, and the focus lies solely on the objects’ inherent nature, materiality, and functional potentials. The primary goal of thing(-ing) is not necessarily to achieve a predetermined outcome but rather to engage in a genuine and conscious experience of the interplay between the mind/body and the object/matter. This process involves a phenomenological and creative encounter that allows me to be fully present in the moment through physical engagement with the objects.
