Statement:

Tent here is meant as an inner space in which one finds shelter, joy, retreat, contemplation and a nomadic way of thought to respond to the challenges of the outside world. an ephemeral and temporary protector for survival. a nomadic space closely connected to the harsh existence of beings. a collective, unspoken idea. the Palace where trust grows.///

how can I feel safe in a house if I can’t feel safe in a tent? this tent- for-everyone shall be a place for self exploration. a rhizomatic process, where in instinct is trained through the method of seeing without eyes. or at least a room to question one’s self. my self.

I am not really sure why I picked this title for the show, but in many ways it came to me as I was talking to my gallerist about the culture of hospitality in Iran (the country I grew up in), where responsibility for etiquette and awareness of how to interact with a guest is a formal yet beautiful thing. if a child were to ask: how can it be that our Planet is round?

how would you answer? we need a thousand years to find the right answers for simple things. in the course of a lifetime, the closer we think we are to finding them the more complicated things get.

when religion and science claim to offer ways to define our existence and our purpose, flexibility of thought becomes even more important. as does philosophy; the search for the right questions. that’s why I decided to use the metaphor of the tent as an inner, intimate space no matter where you come from or what class you belong to.

the moment the limitations of our existence are recognised, the search begins. the Law as a collective agreement, as a kind of illusion by which one lives, as an offer to the community and the collective. the tent, the dream room, the shelter of Elysium allowing the search for the law of unknown rules. if we lie on our back and look upside down at the sea, the view creates the most spectacular impression.

the feeling of gravity is questioned in the imagination. that little change of perspective can move mountains. was it Archimedes with the lever? did he really want to lever the world? Eureka! evolution seems to be complete. do we need a few thousand more years to get further? do animals need insurance or a dentist? after everything we’ve discovered in the past hundred years in technology and science? still greed, division, hatred and fascism are growing, all stemming from a wounded inner place of the soul. the daily work of keeping the tent clean. will it always be necessary? not sure if we should continue with this duality.

this doesn’t come from a misanthropic or nihilistic view, it’s just worth brushing up on elementary questions to remind myself to look for the law in my tent.