Big Picture: The Double Life of Artifacts

In 1977, artist Noriyuki Haraguchi was invited to show his work Matter and Mind at Documenta 6, an international contemporary art exhibition in Kassel, Germany. There begins the story of the shallow steel frame filled with used engine oil – as told by Tehran-born artist Shirin Sabahi. From Kassel the artwork travelled to the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art where an iteration of it was commissioned as an installation for the permanent exhibition. For 40 years the museum’s visitors marveled at this black mirror with its highly reflective surface and a viscosity so different from water. And, over time, the sculpture has taken on the life of a wishing well – not only reflecting who looks at it but also absorbing the things thrown in and at it.

The artist Shirin Sabahi’s work is centered around the life of artifacts and architecture, how objects are produced, used, perceived, remembered, and forgotten. In her two films about Matter and Mind, Sabahi visits Noriyuki Haraguchi in Japan to learn about the history of the artwork (Borrowed Scenery) and subsequently invites Haraguchi to Teheran to oversee the restoration of his work (Mouthful).

Join us for a screening of the two films and a conversation with artist Shirin Sabahi. In conversation with curator Yasmin Afschar she will talk about the two films, about looking at the life of an artifact in and through time, and about her current work.

Program:

18:00 Doors open
18:30 Screening of films Borrowed Scenery (2017, 15’) and Mouthful (2018, 36’)
19:20 Conversation and Q&A with Shirin Sabahi
20:00 Apéro

Shirin Sabahi is a Berlin-based artist. Working with and around moving images, her practice casts objects and places as protagonists, tracing their contextualization and interpretation through time. Recent exhibitions and screenings include Bergen Assembly (2022); CCA Berlin (2022); Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg (2021); Stavanger Kunstmuseum (2021); Ashkal Alwan, Beirut (2021); KW Berlin (2021); Savvy Contemporary, Berlin (2020); and Broad Art Museum, Michigan (2020).

Yasmin Afschar is a Swiss-Iranian curator, editor, and producer for contemporary art, based in Zurich. Currently the Interim-Director at Kunsthalle Mainz, Yasmin is the former curator at Aargauer Kunsthaus in Aarau, Switzerland, and has been co-curating the nomadic discussion platform LE FOYER – IN PROCESS since 2018. Recently, she was appointed as a mediator by the New Patrons, an international initiative supporting public art projects commissioned by citizens. Exhibitions Yasmin organized include Emma Kunz Cosmos. A Visionary in Dialogue with Contemporary Art (Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau 2021 & Tabakalera, San Sebastián 2022) as well as solo exhibitions with Hannah Villiger (together with Madeleine Schuppli, Muzeum Susch 2023), and Denise Bertschi (Aargauer Kunsthaus 2019), among others. Yasmin is the first recipient of Asia Society Switzerland's Curator Residency.

About Big Picture

Big Picture is a quarter-annual, public event series where we celebrate art in all its forms and shapes: Be it food, movies, museums, or literature. We invite artists, curators, and experts to talk about their practices and how these can help shed light on the world we live in. These talks are designed to further the dialogue and exchange across disciplines and regions and to travel beyond the events.

Big Picture is made possible with the support of Bergos.

The event series is hosted in cooperation with Karl der Grosse.