The rubber stamps in the passport are designed by the artist to match the exact stamp that exists in the passport from the official issue centre. The artist redesigns the stamp and then manipulates the wording by replacing the official wordings with lines from found advertising campaigns and posters of Western countries. These hidden messages are related to how branding and marketing function in global politics and how marketing and advertising manipulate and become manipulated in this landscape.
Sculptures:
Sokhanvari’s sculptures stand as an abstracted metaphor to the title, which always derive their name from political events in Iran. The relationship between the sculpture and its title is that of a signifier severed from the referent. The object becomes something outside of itself pointing to an event that has it’s roots in the collective traumas of Iran. These sculptures are accompanied by a message by the artist to the viewer to Google the title in order to decode the meaning. This way the viewer is prompted to perform a task and hence becomes a part of the work.
To view Sohanvari's CV, please click here.