Category: Workshop in Shiraz
The workshop, the report of which is also posted on website, resulted in the creation of nine performance boxes. Each of the boxes created new means for transmission of a single phenomenon through an unusual medium. Six cutartists, mentioned below, led the groups while Bavand Behpoor and Giti Aghakhan Beigi acted as the link between the groups.
Group One
Cutartist leaders: Zahra Hosseini, Hossein Hosseini
Creators: Mehrnoosh Borna, Arezoo Soleymani, Sahar Sha’bani, Marzieh Hooshmand, Mehdi Ravandi, Behrooz Moslemi, Mahboobeh Nasiri, Sahar Vatanzadeh, Mohammad Sayyar, Shirin Cheraghzadeh
Box 1
Allowing transmission of kisses through palpation mediator. The transmitter holds a small air bag in his hand and reads out a love letter that turns aggressive through time!
Box 2
Allowing transmission of torture. The tortured can leave notes on cardboard knifes informing the torturer about the pain caused.
Box 3
Allowing transmission of an algorithm. When the pinhole on one side is covered, the other participant understands it as a signal. However, the algorithms written on two sides are different, thus resulting in a misreading of the signals transmitted: one participant is asked to transmit through several signals the answer to this question: ‘who is most beautiful among your nieces and nephews?’ while she is ignorant of the fact that her answers are actually determining the fate of the person on the other side of the box: she will be destined to a certain punishment according to the answers the other participant gives.
Group Two
Cutartist leaders: Sahra Tabataba’i, Roxana Piroozmand
Creators: Maryam Jahandarpoor, Mahsa Kajoori, Mehrooz Naghshinehfard, Pejhman Shahali, Mohammad Reza Poormoghaddam, Mohammad Javad Zareh, Shayan Salari, Nastaran Khajeh, Tannaz Shams
Box 4
Allowing transmission of a notion through touching of hands.
Box 5
Allowing transmission of silence through an interruption of a counting process. As one performer counts aloud, another performer counts numbers into his ears.
Box 6
Allowing transmission of narcissism through asking questions and caressing the replier’s foot regardless of the given answer.
Group Three
Cutartist leaders: Mansooreh Panahbarkhoda, Hamid Reza Sadeghi
Creators: Esmail Bazparan, Hamed Salehizadeh, Narges Rafiee Ayyoobloo, Fatemeh Jahangiri, Elnaz Abdollahi, Pegah Pashangeh, Babak Bafahm, Zahra Khosheghbal, Behamin Boostani, Fatemeh Eksiri Box 7
Allowing transmission of lust through palpatory mediator. One performer inserts his hands into holes perforated in the box, the other rubs his hands with different bags (greasy, soft, warm) filled with water.
Box 8
Allowing transmission of philosophy through alteration of a meaningless text (palimpsest?).
Box 9
Allowing verbal communication but with human interference. Inside the middle box, sits a cutartist who alters texts thrown into the box before passing it to the other side.
Cutartists’ workshop in Shiraz was held on 5th Aug. 2010 at Howzeh Honari Institute. 30 attendants were divided into three groups each led by two cutartists. Eight cutartists from Yazd, Isfahan and Tehran had come together to make this event possible. Bavand Behpoor and Hadis Aghakhanbeigi acted as the link between the groups.
The workshop consisted of five stages. In the first, each group was to build out of cardboard three boxes measuring 100*100*40cm. In the second stage, the participants had to think of a list of phenamena to transfer through the boxes and how the design of a box can make this transmission indirect and via a new medium. Then, each group had to choose three of ideas and redesigned boxes accordingly. In the third phase, the boxes were transformed through additions and omissions.
In the fourth phase, two participants from another group would test the function of boxes in front of the whole participants.
In the fifth and final stage, the works of all groups were put together to form a different project. The boxes created a single machine with several entrances through which different objects were inserted. The outputs were amazing!
