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B.E
" Electric Hustle"
" Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits."
T.Edison
This installation is truly special to me, as it represents the joy of my life and the person I am. Through all the ups and downs, I always strive to stay content and look forward to what the universe has in store for me. My goal for this installation was to create an energetic and vibrant experience filled with colors and joy for the viewer. I stood in one spot for four hours straight to capture this essence, carefully photographing every detail. I hope that those who view this installation feel the same sense of happiness and excitement that I do when I look at it.
There are six segments to the Story of " Electric Hustle. "
Loralay lives in the Sea. She is a child of a Whale. She meets the man of the land. The man of the land is light and bright as the sun. He is the shining knight in Loralay's liquid mind. She falls in love. Loralay finds ways to crawl out of the Sea. The earthy man is backward, a hustle. He is as heavy as sand. She has no place to breathe but to crawl back to the Sea.
There is nothing simple about my life. My life is a twist of everything abstract. In its abstract, they all get lost. In this life, I have quietly hustled, like you. I have won, and I have lost, just like you. I have lived a life different than yours. You have lived a life other than mine. It is not just about the finer things in life. It is not about the life of a thug. I'm you. I'm the artist. I'm the artist of life. My ambition is never to stop. An ambitious hustler is the one to hustle the hustlers. When I grew up, my heroes were hustlers; your heroes were hustlers.
Everyone calls me B here. I'm here to regain my kingdom. I battled dwarves, dragons, giants, and other mythical beings and fought at the rose garden against Siegfried, slaying him. I'm a magician. I'm a man and a woman. I've gambled my life with no fear. Against supernatural beings, I breathe fire when angry. But this is my exile! I am simply waiting for a Beacon, searching for a tunnel to return, a rebirth, my prophecy.
The images are a representation of us! All of us who hustle for a better life. Images are framed within lines; they symbolize our lives inside invisible boxes, the imprisonment of the human mind.
Emerson College sponsored this installation and presented it at The Emerson Theatre. I work with two other artists who created the digital media, David Kelleher and musician Louden.
This project was presented at the theater. It was on the big screen with 30 Still-photographs surrounding the theater with Live Music.
T.Edison
This installation is truly special to me, as it represents the joy of my life and the person I am. Through all the ups and downs, I always strive to stay content and look forward to what the universe has in store for me. My goal for this installation was to create an energetic and vibrant experience filled with colors and joy for the viewer. I stood in one spot for four hours straight to capture this essence, carefully photographing every detail. I hope that those who view this installation feel the same sense of happiness and excitement that I do when I look at it.
There are six segments to the Story of " Electric Hustle. "
Loralay lives in the Sea. She is a child of a Whale. She meets the man of the land. The man of the land is light and bright as the sun. He is the shining knight in Loralay's liquid mind. She falls in love. Loralay finds ways to crawl out of the Sea. The earthy man is backward, a hustle. He is as heavy as sand. She has no place to breathe but to crawl back to the Sea.
There is nothing simple about my life. My life is a twist of everything abstract. In its abstract, they all get lost. In this life, I have quietly hustled, like you. I have won, and I have lost, just like you. I have lived a life different than yours. You have lived a life other than mine. It is not just about the finer things in life. It is not about the life of a thug. I'm you. I'm the artist. I'm the artist of life. My ambition is never to stop. An ambitious hustler is the one to hustle the hustlers. When I grew up, my heroes were hustlers; your heroes were hustlers.
Everyone calls me B here. I'm here to regain my kingdom. I battled dwarves, dragons, giants, and other mythical beings and fought at the rose garden against Siegfried, slaying him. I'm a magician. I'm a man and a woman. I've gambled my life with no fear. Against supernatural beings, I breathe fire when angry. But this is my exile! I am simply waiting for a Beacon, searching for a tunnel to return, a rebirth, my prophecy.
The images are a representation of us! All of us who hustle for a better life. Images are framed within lines; they symbolize our lives inside invisible boxes, the imprisonment of the human mind.
Emerson College sponsored this installation and presented it at The Emerson Theatre. I work with two other artists who created the digital media, David Kelleher and musician Louden.
This project was presented at the theater. It was on the big screen with 30 Still-photographs surrounding the theater with Live Music.
Zourkhaneh,
dedicated to my father
Yet another project that is close to my heart. It's something that I've been working on for a while now, and it's dedicated to my father.
He was a physician and had two offices in Tehran. One of his offices was in an area where the poor lived. Across the street from that office was a Zourkhaneh, which is a traditional Iranian gym. This was my favorite office, where I developed compassion for the needy. My parents were always very good to the needy, and that sound of giving has always stayed with me. As a child, I sneaked into the Zourkhaneh to see what was happening there. This experience inspired me to become the only Iranian woman who has been able to enter a Zourkhaneh and film it with the permission of the Morshed (the boss).
It was a difficult task, but I'm proud to have accomplished it.
It was a surreal experience to return to Iran after so many years and visit the same area where my father used to have his office. The place had changed so much in the last 40 years that I could hardly recognize it. As I walked around, I decided to step into a nearby shop and ask about the old Zourkhaneh. The shopkeeper informed me that it no longer existed. As I was walking back to my car, I approached a younger man and asked him if he knew anything about Zourkhaneh across the way from a physician offcice. To my surprise, he recognized the name and asked me if I was referring to Dr. Ehtemam. I was taken aback but also filled with pride that my father had made such an impact on this community that even the younger generation knew of his good work. He spoke so highly of my father, and it warmed my heart to hear that his legacy had lived on in this poor section of the city. Despite the changes that had taken place over the years, my father's dedication to his patients and willingness to help them, even if it meant working for free, had not been forgotten.
The zourkhaneh is more than just a place dedicated to physical exercise. The zourkhaneh and Varzesh-e Pahlavani have their roots in pre-Islamic Iranian culture. After the Arab conquest, its practice became illegal for a time, and was seen as representing a form of cultural resistance. Over time, however, the pastime adapted to fit in with Islamic culture. In addition, certain moral qualities and values came to be associated with pahlevans; such as courage, selflessness and, above all faith and absolute loyalty to the prophet and the imams.
The climax of the Zurkhaneh was in the Safavid dynasty, while twelver Shiism became the state religion. There has been renewed interest in the Zurkhaneh starting in the early 20th century, and it is now associated with nationalism.
One of the Inner City's (Baku) entertainment in areas was the Zorkhana. Baku's Zorkhana dates back to at least the 15th century and this underground vault was located just a few steps from the Bukhari and Multani caravanserais, towards the Maiden Tower. Men paid there an entrance fee to participate in various competitions, including weightlifting, wrestling and boxing. There were contests accompanied by a trio of musicians who performed traditional Eastern instruments like the kamancha, zurna and naghara (drum). Most of these melodies have long since been forgotten. But one by the name of "Jangi" (War) is still performed prior to the opening of Azerbaijani national wrestling competitions, called Gulash.
In Zorkhana young men could test their strength against professional wrestlers such as those who came from Tabriz, Ardabil, Sarab and other cities of Southern Azerbaijan (in Iran). Huseyngulu Sarabski writes about one wrestler nicknamed "Altiaylig Abdulali" (Six-Month Abdulali) who took on all these youth. Before each match, the famous musician Haji Zeynal Agha Karim would perform a song glorifying the wrestler. Altiaylig Abdulali would untie his belt, toss his hat on the floor and come out onto the stage grinning. The young amateurs approached him one by one. When Altiaylig was finished wrestling, the spectators would give him various denominations of money such as three, five or even ten rubles, a considerable sum of money at the time.
The Zorkhaneh also functioned somewhat like a fitness club. When no competitions were taking place, men went there to do exercises and use sports equipment.
-Morshed Mehregan ( Ferdowsi, Shahnameh).
Lecture/Q&A
30 Still-photographs
He was a physician and had two offices in Tehran. One of his offices was in an area where the poor lived. Across the street from that office was a Zourkhaneh, which is a traditional Iranian gym. This was my favorite office, where I developed compassion for the needy. My parents were always very good to the needy, and that sound of giving has always stayed with me. As a child, I sneaked into the Zourkhaneh to see what was happening there. This experience inspired me to become the only Iranian woman who has been able to enter a Zourkhaneh and film it with the permission of the Morshed (the boss).
It was a difficult task, but I'm proud to have accomplished it.
It was a surreal experience to return to Iran after so many years and visit the same area where my father used to have his office. The place had changed so much in the last 40 years that I could hardly recognize it. As I walked around, I decided to step into a nearby shop and ask about the old Zourkhaneh. The shopkeeper informed me that it no longer existed. As I was walking back to my car, I approached a younger man and asked him if he knew anything about Zourkhaneh across the way from a physician offcice. To my surprise, he recognized the name and asked me if I was referring to Dr. Ehtemam. I was taken aback but also filled with pride that my father had made such an impact on this community that even the younger generation knew of his good work. He spoke so highly of my father, and it warmed my heart to hear that his legacy had lived on in this poor section of the city. Despite the changes that had taken place over the years, my father's dedication to his patients and willingness to help them, even if it meant working for free, had not been forgotten.
The zourkhaneh is more than just a place dedicated to physical exercise. The zourkhaneh and Varzesh-e Pahlavani have their roots in pre-Islamic Iranian culture. After the Arab conquest, its practice became illegal for a time, and was seen as representing a form of cultural resistance. Over time, however, the pastime adapted to fit in with Islamic culture. In addition, certain moral qualities and values came to be associated with pahlevans; such as courage, selflessness and, above all faith and absolute loyalty to the prophet and the imams.
The climax of the Zurkhaneh was in the Safavid dynasty, while twelver Shiism became the state religion. There has been renewed interest in the Zurkhaneh starting in the early 20th century, and it is now associated with nationalism.
One of the Inner City's (Baku) entertainment in areas was the Zorkhana. Baku's Zorkhana dates back to at least the 15th century and this underground vault was located just a few steps from the Bukhari and Multani caravanserais, towards the Maiden Tower. Men paid there an entrance fee to participate in various competitions, including weightlifting, wrestling and boxing. There were contests accompanied by a trio of musicians who performed traditional Eastern instruments like the kamancha, zurna and naghara (drum). Most of these melodies have long since been forgotten. But one by the name of "Jangi" (War) is still performed prior to the opening of Azerbaijani national wrestling competitions, called Gulash.
In Zorkhana young men could test their strength against professional wrestlers such as those who came from Tabriz, Ardabil, Sarab and other cities of Southern Azerbaijan (in Iran). Huseyngulu Sarabski writes about one wrestler nicknamed "Altiaylig Abdulali" (Six-Month Abdulali) who took on all these youth. Before each match, the famous musician Haji Zeynal Agha Karim would perform a song glorifying the wrestler. Altiaylig Abdulali would untie his belt, toss his hat on the floor and come out onto the stage grinning. The young amateurs approached him one by one. When Altiaylig was finished wrestling, the spectators would give him various denominations of money such as three, five or even ten rubles, a considerable sum of money at the time.
The Zorkhaneh also functioned somewhat like a fitness club. When no competitions were taking place, men went there to do exercises and use sports equipment.
-Morshed Mehregan ( Ferdowsi, Shahnameh).
Lecture/Q&A
30 Still-photographs
Cape Cod , A winter poetry
The installation was sponsored by Bang & Olufsen, providing the exhibit's space and sound system. Many moving parts were involved in putting it all together, but my goal was to make my audience feel like they were on The Cape, Ma. I wanted to create an immersive experience that would transport them to this beautiful location, and I knew I needed complete silence to achieve this. That's why I avoided the summer months when the Cape is busiest. Instead, I opted for the winter months when everything was quiet. I have been captivated by The Cape for many years and have spent countless hours photographing it with my students or myself. When I decided to create this installation, I knew that I wanted to call it "Winter Poetry" because I wanted to express the feeling of the Cape during those winter months. To bring my vision to life, I worked tirelessly to collect thousands of images, partnered with another artist, David Kelleher, and managed sounds and aromas to create a fully immersive experience. Walking into the space, you will smell the moss, seaweed, and salty air and hear the sounds of seagulls and streams we collected only on The Cape. I wanted to create an experience that would genuinely transport my audience and make them feel like they were on the Cape with me.
I also wrote the poetries that I'm reciting.
I also wrote the poetries that I'm reciting.
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