Once at Present: Contemporary Art of the Bay Area Iranian Diaspora (2019)
Sholeh Asgary
Ab, 2018
Projection monitors, programming and composition, total running time 11:33
A computer program processes Asgary’s voice saying “ab,” the only word in Farsi she learned to read or write, into beats that correlate to the unique measurements of her grandmother’s home in Esfahan, Iran and her own home in Oakland, CA. When simultaneously played facing each other, a polyspatial rhythm is created, bringing to life a third space between them. The metaphoric volume of each home is filled, layer upon layer until full with “ab,” the Farsi word for water.
Once at Present: Contemporary Art of the Bay Area Iranian Diaspora
March 29 - April 20, 2019
Minnesota Street Project
San Francisco, CA
Photo credit: Scott Chernis