In the process of making, “Interdisciplinarity” plays an important role. An example of such process is the music composition for “A Silence to be Heard” (Farid 1997). The lines of the melody here are created in sympathy with the movements of the hands of the performer -box:C,C1,C2,C3&C4-. The hands’ movements are stylised gestures which are drawn from the deaf sign language which try to communicate -box:E2- some ideologies -box:E1-, originally taken from a written text.
Along the same line, in my recent works, bringing poetry and shocking images of a totally different context gives a new meaning to the outcome. Contrasting and shocking political images are showed when a love poem is recital; create some challenging atmosphere which is not aimed but that poem, but it enhances the effect of the images. It can find its way into the mind of people who may not otherwise look at those images or become interested in their topic. This is done in a sarcastic manner and creates a black hummer which puts naivety and intelligence in the same picture, and invites the onlooker to draw her/his own synthesis out of this thesis and antithesis.
Not: (Cross Lines or Interdisciplinarity is not yet shown in the “Map of My Metaphysical Journey”. I am still working on this aspect)
Qualitative Image-Based
The remaining part of this section on making looks at strategies that I use in the various media that I employ. Here, I start with photography.
"There are two types of Photography: Those which contain information
and those which provoke an emotional reaction."
(Prosser 1998, p. 71)
To me art is just a language like any other. In fact I do not see any difference between a verbal language and any other artistic media which is expressive and intuitive. Photography and videography are two very important media in my work. The way I use these media are always provocative, in particular when I put them in an unexpected context. For example in “Zolf Ashofteh”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJgsbsA8FFA&feature=related (Farid 2009)
In this piece, some pictures of suppressors and some shocking images of execution pass the screen while the narrator recites a poem which portrays a love scene. Hence even if the used photographs in my work are originally of informative nature or just pieces of visual memorandum, they are turn into provocative objects.
Looking at the Construction of Another Birth as an Example
Now I would like to look at "Another Birth" as an example of making a piece of work, as described in Volume 3.
“Another Birth” is a poem by Forough Farrokhzad, a contemporary Persian female poet which haunted my imagination for a long time. It is a dreamlike, surreal and extremely pictorial poem. Its verses draw images in front of one’s third eye, and as an artist I could not get over these images without making some form of response.
Choosing Medium: I use all art formats where and when I find a group of them the best vehicle to communicate my theme. For example in “Another Birth” (Farid 2007-8) I have used the following media: Poetry, Calligraphy, Performance, Photography, Videography, Publication and Exhibition.
I realised that by taking Forough’s poetic suggestions literally, a number of surreal images could emerge. I illustrated my visual account of “Another Birth” in form of photography/film, together with Persian calligraphy, and also in form of publication and Exhibition.
Orientation:
I initially familiarised myself with Forough Farokhzad’s poetry by reading it in its original language, Persian. I also listened to recordings of Forough's own voice, reading this poem and being interviewed. I observed this particular poem in Forough’s handwriting as well; perchance I could read something between the lines.
It was not until I started to write and analyse my work alongside this poem that I discovered some hidden mystic spaces around the phrases of this poem, so I began to travel further and further through these unexpected passages which began to open up in front of my eyes. I therefore began to believe that Forough’s promise in “taking you to the dawn of ever blooming and growth” might have been becoming a reality.
Listening to Forough’s voice, I discovered that this passage,
(12 F.F) "-Ah…
-This is my share…?
-Is this my share…?"
as it was discussed in the body of this essay, should be read and understood as a set of questions rather than statements. This small difference makes a significant change to the destination of this poem and creates a u-turn in the direction of its understanding, leading to a different realisation of Forough’s own character
(Practice as Research - Trimingham 2000).
Persian is a tonal language and reading this section of the poem as a statement would give a passive and fatalistic impression about the intention of the poet. Reading this section as a set of questions, however, would suggest Forough's awareness of the obstacles and challenges in her path as well as her determination to overcome them.
This project examines Persian poetry in an intimate way. It questions a piece of poetry that is written by a woman, about women (Hatcher & Hemmat 2002), (Forough Farrokhzad 1989 & 1992). It examines the way that Forough regards her life as a journey through which her sexual, social and spiritual identities are formed and challenged by internal and external cultural forces (Bahá’u’lláh 1986, Ruth 1981). A challenge that, as a Persian woman who lives in the west, I can identify with, in particular when my social and political identity is questioned (
Translation:
I translated this poem from Persian to English before reading any other translations. That decision was made to protect myself from being influenced by other translators. In doing that, I have tried to remain as faithful to the literal meaning of the poem as possible, but not at the expense of losing the conceptual meaning of the verses of the poem.
"Another Birth" is a surreal piece of writing that suggests a range of conceptual set of images. Translating this poem to another language is a matter of delicacy, because the readers/listeners could attribute the difficulties in comprehension to a weak translation, hence her/his attention is diverted from Forough's intentions. An attempt, therefore, has been made to keep the readers’/listeners' attention focused by the use of the medium of photomontage in portraying it, and techniques of poetry reading in its audio performance.
Photography & Photomontage:
The format that I have chosen to illustrate this poem is a combination of photomontage and calligraphy which is designed on the basis of the verses of this poem in its original language. The photographs are original and they have, purposefully, been taken with an
The images that are used for photomontage were chosen out of hundreds of shots and they were manipulated, using the digital editing techniques of Adobe Photoshop. The final images consist of many layers of photographs, in some cases over fifty.
Calligraphy Design:
The use of calligraphy design in this illustration work provides reference to the context of the origin of this poem as well as adding to its aesthetic and visual impact. In terms of calligraphy, I benefited from studying the work of the past and present Persian masters of calligraphy, such as Mishkin-Qalam (Mishkin-Qalam 1992) and Rassouli (Rassouli 1990-92). I also drew ideas and inspirations from a lifetime exposure to Persian calligraphy design, and that helped me to develop my own original calligraphy founts and style of writing (Farid 1980-2007). (Practice as Research - Trimingham 2000, Planning, Making & Reflection and Auto-Ethnography)
An example of one of the calligraphy designs:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ParvanehFarid#p/u/31/Jmd9ahxagm4
Colour Scheme:
The hue, saturation, colour level, contrast and brightness of the images were carefully manipulated and adjusted to match the chosen colour scheme of a common template. The saturation was reduced and the use of a brown overall effect was considered to create a soft and subtle atmosphere.
Visual Composition:
In creating visual scenes I have called upon my cultural heritage which encompasses the works of other visual artists, both western and eastern, whose work is classed as surreal and their subject matter rubs shoulders with my images in this work.
This included the work of artists such as Salvador Dali (Alexa Stace 1994), Frida Kahlo (Emma Dexter 2005), and also the work of the Persian and Indian artists who have illustrated poetry and myths in the past (Stuart Cary Welch 1976, K.E. Sullivan, 1998, Robert Hillenbrand 2000, Basil Gary 1995, Ebadollah Bahari 1997). (Practice as Research - Trimingham 2000)
Modeling:
I have appeared and acted in front of the camera together with my husband wherever the subject matter required. That way I lived the poem through acting and posing (Auto-Ethnography & Interpretive Interactionism). I have tried to dive into the depth of the feelings of this poem, and that helped me to understand the motives which have provoked the poet in describing the scenes of the poem.
“One writes out of one thing only
- one’s own experience.
Everything depends on how relentlessly one forces from this experience the last drop,
sweet or bitter,
it can possibly give.
This is the only real concern of the artist,
to recreate out of the disorder of life that order which is art.”
(James Baldwin, 1990)
In posing and executing self-photography, I have drawn ideas and style from my acting and stage experiences (Parvaneh Farid 1990-2007). I have also looked at performances by artists such as (e.g. Julia Bardsley 2007), as well as studying the work of the American photographer who does self-modeling, Cindy Sherman (1995). (Practice as Research - Trimingham 2000)
Animation Rhythm of the Art-Video:
The animation of the images is rhythmic; their appearance and disappearance are not only in synchronisation with the narrative of the poem, but also in sympathy with the vocal rhythm of the narrator, the emphasis of key phrases and the significance of the words. The appearance of the calligraphy work also follows this rhythmic pattern. Furthermore, the transition effect of the images, the calligraphy and their timing are worked out in such a way that they reinforce the drama of the narrative.
Sound Effects & Music: The constant use of sound tracks is avoided and they are only used on two occasions, where they could significantly enhance the atmosphere and the mood of the story.
A soft orchestral piece of music (Farid 1998) is played towards the end of the piece. The dominating instrument is a bamboo flute which makes an association with the narrative of the poem at this point:
(26 F.F) "-I know of a small and sad fairy who lives in an ocean,
playing her heart out through a bamboo flute,
softly… softly…" (P.F. T)
Audio Recording:
The poem is narrated in a dramatic and subjective manner which reflects the mood of the story and its emotion. The voice of the narrator (Farid 2006) has a soft, sensual and at the same time a sad quality with a natural Persian accent which suits the style and the origin of the poem. It is recorded in English as well as in Persian at L'Atelier Papillon (Farid 2006), and was edited with Cubase SX (digital music software).
This method of making has made me a multi media artist, and as my background shows, I have developed skills in using a wide range of media. In doing this project, I have used calligraphy, photography, art video, expressive writing, music and performance.
The use of images, in particular photography and videography plays a major role in documenting and expressing my thoughts and emotion alongside the expressive writing, hence understanding the "Qualitative Image-Based" method could help me to project relevant expression to an image as well as enabling me to read more accurate information from it.
"Photography by itself does not mean anything until it is interpreted,
and the meaning of the photograph does not necessarily be apparent
from the manifest content...
Photographs should not be treated as 'mirrors' held up to reality:
reality itself is a product of social process,
and photographs can be part of the process,
as well as a product, of reality construction...
The purposes of which photographs are both taken and used
will have an effect on their meaning."
(Prosser 1998, pp. 74 & 80)
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