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:: Project
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Artists have the
ability to shape our thoughts and ideologies. Fine Art only serves a use
to society in this day and age, when combined with acts of service
inspired by the creative thought to help humanity.
WorldArt Collective is a
project that inspired 1,500+ people from around the globe to take a
picture with a poster that speaks about the persecution of Baha'is in
Iran. The pictures were then brought together as a symbol of collective unity and used to create a sculptural piece of body armour.
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:: Artist
Statement ::
It has become an unnatural reaction in this day and age to be
desensitized when one watches the destruction and catastrophic daily
events that take place in the world. The individual subconsciously
justifies what they see by simply accepting it as the world we live in.
Artists have the ability to shape our thoughts and ideologies. I think
now more than ever that it is a very exciting time to be a contemporary
artist and use the creative thought for the betterment of humanity.
Artists can create awareness through contemporary art about the
turbulent times we live in, the issues and problems that plague the
world collectively.
We live in a time when there are constant advances in communication
technologies that open broad avenues of interaction among the planet's
diverse populations. Artists should use this global communication and
diversity of the world's people as a tool to express the arts. I have
used the power of the internet and e-mail to create a global network of
the world’s people—a demographically diverse group have thereby come
together to participate in this world wide artists’ collective. I
believe that Fine Art should not be coined as high art and alienate the
majority of society who cannot intellectually understand it at an
educated level, but instead encourage the masses that art can be used to
move the hearts and change the minds of men. I believe by encouraging
this project, I am giving the participants the chance to see that even
though they are not artists they can all contribute to the arts and be
apart of this ever evolving history of art. No matter what work of art
and of what culture, it is a living teacher of mankind's evolutionary
development. Art can influence society; art can spark social,
intellectual and educational revolutions of thinking.
I embarked on an internet based project, via Facebook. I created a
network page were I created awareness about the issue of human rights
violations, injustice and persecution. I directed it to a specific
minority group. The group is the Bahá’í community which is being
oppressed and persecuted by the fanatical regime governing Iran.
I left it open for anyone who was on Facebook to join my world wide
collective and participate in this project, in collaboration with me. To
this date, nearly 1000 people have joined the group and I have received
over 1500 photographs from around the world from people who are
concerned about the injustice and human rights violations directed at
the Persian Bahá’í community in Iran. I wanted to create an artwork and
art movement that is directly addressing social change and reform—the
world’s people cannot go by and just let injustice prevail in the world.
We need to educate ourselves, our friends, our colleagues, co-workers,
family members, and communities on the local, national and international
levels about the issues and problems that plague this turbulent world,
from domestic family problems to the world problems.
We as individuals cannot get comfortable with our material lives but
instead should be seeking to better our world. Art is a reflection of
society and if society needs social change, then art should depict and
inspire social change within its ideas. I have made a body armour out of
the 1500 photographs that I have received, which comments at the
injustices directed towards the Bahá’í community in Iran. No matter how
much they are being persecuted, the entire world is protecting them and
supporting them in the spirit of justice and love as symbolized by the
armour. Their efforts to apply the Teachings of their Faith into actions
of spiritual and social development that are conducive to the prosperity
of their people and homeland are not forgotten by the peoples of the
world, and in fact, we are with them in spirit, praying for them and
protecting them.
The most distinctive aspect of this artwork is not necessarily the 1500
photographs of people holding up signs or the aesthetics of the armour.
The artwork already took place through the conversations that have been
taking place creating awareness about the persecution of Bahá’í in Iran.
It is the individuals from around the world making a conscious decision
to participate and thereby educating their friends, families,
co-workers, associates and strangers about the persecution, injustice
and oppression that plague our world. The conversation is the artwork
and the photographs of them holding the sign is a documentation and
acknowledgement of that event in time. It was a worldwide collaboration
of hundreds and hundreds of people. The participants then sent me the
documentation photographs of people holding the signs; I then made them
into body armour. The body armour thereby becomes a symbol of a time
based event that happened over a course of eight weeks around the entire
world.
In essence, I have used modern age technology to communicate an idea of
collective unity, justice and human rights through contemporary art.
Shahriar Asdollah-zadeh,
2008 |
