The Shape of Things (Alinah Azadeh)

Second Trip to Bristol Museum (2)

Julia arranged a meeting with Sue Giles , the Ethnographic curator who gave us a Store tour . Based on the kind of objects I had expressed interest in, (divination objects, objects using text and textile, wrapped and bound objects) she showed us ;

A Sumatran calendar, engraved on a bamboo stick.

A ‘Book of the Chicken’ – a divination book,concertina style, with all kinds of symbols and codes.

A Larger palm leaf book which was beautiful and mysterious to take in.

She explained that ‘the past is often seen as the present’ in ethnography. So she has started a new collection of contemporary objects. Among these I saw some Guatemalan weaving and looms . Also, some modern Cofradia robes (for spiritual ceremonies) . A woven wristband from New Guinea and a woven elbow bangle. She carefully unwrapped all of these out of tissue paper, as if lovingly undressing a small infant.

I asked about ideas around containing the power of objects and she told us about the tradition of ‘Killing an object’ – eg breaking a spear or piercing a ball so it went into the afterlife . When I said this idea of piercing objects could be of interest in relation to how I would hang them (in the event of a suspended work) she reacted as if I were proposing to pierce a live being and the pain of object was real! This was interesting as she is obviously someone who has great reverence and responsibility for the well being of objects and it struck me how much I would like her to gift an object into the work. Then I realised we have to invite all of the staff to do this, it is the logical place to begin.

I am thinking of where to start re wrapping objects – myself, the staff and then the public makes sense . I am going to draft a LETTER OF INVITATION asking staff donate objects and also to raise awareness and create ownership of the project . The text for this needs to be very concise, clear and inspiring. I am thinking of asking for an unwanted physical object and also for a desired emotional object for the future which they would like to see realised. I am not sure what this means yet but it feels like there needs to be a system of exchange within the gift transaction itself. So the gifting to the work offers something back to the giver, ie the possibility that their emotional object . a hope, wish, intention, desire, creative thought or plan – can be made real through the power of residing, written, in the art work itself.

Second Trip to Bristol Museum (March)

On the train up I read some of Lewis Hyde’s book ‘ The Gift; The Artist and Creativity in the Modern world’. It is the perfect book for my current ideas, and me and I know what gift and exchange will be a core force in the participatory aspect of this project.

He was talking about collective self-knowledge through the Gift I think, and I read the part about the historical circular nature of gift giving in ancient societies:

‘When the gift moves in a circle, its motion is beyond the control of the personal ego and so each bearer must be a part of the group and each donation is an act of sound faith’

I have been thinking a lot about legacy and Gift donations .

Since it is within a museum context, I took a look at the admin and processes that already exist for the gift donation of objects to the museum.

We looked at the Register books – these detail the narrative of the objects donated to the museum as follows:

Number : date : name : how acquired :description : annotation.

Each object has an accession number – they are on index cards detailing each objects. It is slowly being transferred to database but it was great to see it on old paper and bond books, I think I will use this as a reference.

Julia also showed me the Solander boxes which look like large fake books , to keep specimens insulated. Solander designed them on Joseph Banks’ South Sea Voyage. I quite like the feel of them. There is also the possibility of using cases, though I am aware that for the main work I want it to be physically as accessible as possible. So these may be good for some selected archive pieces that relate to the concept and maybe a couple of my own individual wrapped works.

What am I asking people to give me to become part of the work?

Ideas so far:

An object they –no longer need or want.

An object that represents an area of their life that is over.

An object they would like to send into an imaginary after life (too esoteric?)

An object that represents their legacy to the world in this life (too overwhelming?)

I am very aware that this piece may be acquired by the museum after the show and so scale and storage are an issue. The object given must fit into the palm of the hand.

Transaction

What is the transaction between myself and the public?

A bill of money (poetic currency) or a gift certificate to acknowledge receipt of the object.? Or simply a copy of the Register book entry?

First Bristol meeting (3)

TEXTS FOR THE AFTERLIFE

While sketching the Assyrian Panels, I remembered a dream I had about my mother about a year after she had died. In her life, she always wore the Zoroastrian symbol around her neck, the Apkalle made of gold. To her, It was a symbol of recognition of what Iran was before Islam came along and tried to destroy (but luckily failed). In the dream she had hooked up with one of the great Kings and was complaining about how demanding he was and how exhausted she was getting! There was an exasperated fondness in her voice and I woke up feeling amused at how typical of my mother this would be.

I loved looking at the cuneiform script inscribed into the panels, some flowing across the image itself. I noted down the production process as I found it interesting; ‘Alabaster slabs were set up around the room to be made. Artists drew the design and masons/artists carved them in relief. Scribes then wrote out the text and the masons (who were illiterate so did not understand what they were writing) cut the cuneiform into relief. ‘

Is there power in the physical creation of a text if you don’t know what it means?

What was the status of the masons compared to the artists compared to the scribes in those days?

I spent my last hour at the China show, freshly curated space aimed at younger audiences with a real playful feel.

The objects that caught my eye were;

– A funerary land deed (AD1626, Jing Dezchen, Jiang Xi province) written on blue on white ceramic recording personal + family history + written for a ‘bureaucratic spirit world’ .God forbid they have bureaucrats in the afterlife but it made for an interesting object and idea. Creating objects for an afterlife? A possible starting point. Both Egyptian and the Chinese have examples of these developed n very different ways.

– A scroll written on by Mao Ze Ting of The Long march’ . The totally erratic flow of his writing compared to the land deed was what struck me. I couldn’t stop looking at it.

First Bristol meeting (2)

I spent the afternoon at the Museum and then returned the next day. I wanted to see the Egyptian exhibition and also the China temporary show. I went first to the Egyptian one to look specifically at the way their designer had developed the space. I liked the way he had created a 3D timeline with a collection of small scale mummy models, suspended in blue –lit space, linked by symbolic lines of history that you had to peek through hard to get the whole picture of.

There was an Egyptian ball… made of old cloth and bound round with twine-it had charisma and strange to think it was a plaything now sitting behind a glass panel. I was drawn to it as am looking for objects that haven been wrapped or bound or relate to ancestry, personal power or have changed radically in use.

The Assyrian panels were the real pull. Of course there was an instant recognition, with my Iranian heritage of these huge figures carved into stone, in profile with their eagle eyes and coiled locks. I have seen such figures at Persepolis in Iran when I went there with my mother in 1992 . An extraordinary woman appeared at one of the doorways – a local gypsy who looked like she had time travelled there, with the eagle profile, darkest black hair and pitch black eyes Mainly it was her charisma I was so struck by –that of a living goddess. Of course, pure romantic projection on my part. It was a fleeting moment which I have always wanted to develop a painted image from but haven’t so far.

So, back to the panels,. I sensed my mother’s interest from beyond the grave as I stopped to sketch these powerful winged beings, the Apkalle. They were there to guard the King from evil influences’ and carried a bag/bucket containing a ‘magical substance ‘. What was this? Was it a physical thing or an invisible charm? They also carried a pinecone, to ‘scatter magic’…How do you imbue something with such power, is it mainly the taught belief that it is powerful that makes it so?

I read through the text about the piece and what struck me the most was that when the city, Nimrud (where these were found) which was the northern capital of the expanding Assyrian empire was finished in 860BC, the King Ashnurasipal II gave a feast lasting 1 days for 69,574 guests! How did they count the guests, how long did it take to cook the food? What did they eat? I love feasts as part of the ritual of art, but this takes the cake.

First Bristol meeting (1)

I just had my first trip up to Bristol. As well as the excitement of a museum project/solo show on the horizon, there is also the added bonus of some really good friends plus some family who live there who I will now get to see on a regular basis for the next year.

I met with Julia Carver, who is the assistant curator at the museum and my main contact. She seems very sensitive and open and looks like a pre-raphaellite painting, with a wonderful profile and poetic demeanour. I also met the Exhibitions Manager Phil, Reetha who works in the community development section and Louise who is the Learning /Participation Officer. There is a lot to plan for so we talked over some practical issues plus some ideas based on my proposal, which will no doubt develop and adapt to the space and audience (especially having just done The Bibliomancer’s Dream’ at Southbank where I learnt a lot about interactive work in densely occupied spaces!).

Julia showed me around the museum, it is a beautiful space and has been carefully curated with an emphasis on appealing to families. What do I remember? A David Bomberg painting (the teacher of my first drawing teacher, Roy Oxlade) among a collection of interesting modern work, an array of large stuffed animals, a small deep blue glass vessel, the old maps of Bristol around the first floor atrium space, the enormous books in the curators office, as tall as my daughter.

I have till September to research and develop my ideas to a point where we can start to plan the exhibition and start talking with the 3D designer, the marketing team etc. That isn’t really very long although the seed of this idea has been with me for many years and I think it will find its form comfortably within this time.

I am also back in the studio continuing to work on my ‘Gifts of the Departed’ series which I realise is very much related to this project and has pre-empted it in some way. For the selection we had to take an object along and I took my first piece in the series, apprehensive as to the reaction since it feels so new. The response was very positive and this has helped me to decide on investing in a good chunk of time over the next few months to make a series of up to 20 pieces. I enjoy the relied of working with my hands on something small after so many big commissions and teams of people over the last year, it is a real and intimate treat. Also, having a space in Pop-up studios here in the old fire brigade buildings overlooking the river in Lewes here is such a privilege and gives me the space I need to really focus away from family and domestic /professional concerns.