Faculty of Art

Integrated Media

Kasra Goodarznezhad

(dis)appearance

Installation , 70*70*70 inMixed Media (Light Fixture, Metal Pipes, Framed Digital Print Posters)

“Reflecting on growing up in Iran and immigrating to Canada in 2015, my work deals with concepts of displacement, repression, and censorship. I look to explore the subjective complexities of being an individual living in a society that forces you to behave in ways sanctioned by those who hold power.Using RGB lighting and posters designed with white, red, and green colours (the colours of Iran’s flag), I am manipulating light and the relationships established by colour theory to demonstrate performative censorship. Written in my own handwriting, the posters have poems and writings that are significant to the collective cultural memory of Iran. The LED light component of the work activates and manipulates the colours of the posters to conceal or reveal the different layers of the messaging.Different areas of the posters will respond differently to the light that shines on it. As an example, when green light shines on the poster, the areas of red on the poster disappear, leaving only areas of green visible; when red light shines on the poster, areas of green disappear, leaving only areas of red parts visible. The use of Blue light cancels both red and green of the poster, leaving only white areas visible. The posters are effectively censoring themselves.This installation consists of 6 to 9 framed posters(depending on the space), each with their own dedicated light source so each poster’s censorship behavior is unique to its own frame.Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 outbreak, this work was never able to be fully realized in a physical exhibition.”