Shahryar Nashat
Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Work from his oeuvre.
“Shahryar Nashat’s previous work has investigated his interest in art collections, reproductions of works of art, as well as questions relating to appropriation and artistic reuse, display issues and apparatus. Lighting, plinths, pedestals, and the mode of positing and projecting all play pivotal roles in Nashat’s video installations, sculptures and photographs and highlights how display and reproduction affect meaning.
Many film and photographic works employ representations of the body, often positioned on plinths and pedestals that act as an extension of the body and the ground of sculptured feet. In a new video work The Rehearsal of Adam Linder,2011, a dancer is filmed during and straight after a rehearsal, alternating between the body being overtly physical and in rest. Through the presentation of the video, the displaced body can be understood as acting as a stand-in as both a viewer and performer. This is idea of a stand-in or proxy is mirrored in a series of bench-like sculptures that suggest the viewer might sit down and through that action become a part of the artwork. The entire installation works as a constellation of works that constantly shifts between what is to be looked at by the viewer, what is to be performed by the artwork in its concept and form, and what is to be performed by the viewer in looking at the works. ” – Studio Voltaire