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Art

Hundreds Join Artist JR to Create a Collaborative Portrait in Protest of Iran’s Restrictions of Women

“Baraye Nika Shakarami” for #EyesonIran (December 4, 2022), interactive installation at Four Freedoms Park, cotton canvas and more than 300 participants. All images © JR, shared with permission

In less than a week, the U.N. will decide whether to bar Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women following the death of Mahsa Jina Amini, who was arrested by the nation’s “morality police” for not covering her hair properly and later died in custody. To advocate for the country’s removal ahead of the vote, an ongoing campaign titled Women Life Freedom is staging installations across from U.N. headquarters as part of Eyes on Iran, which brought artists like Shirin Neshat, Icy & Sot (previously) and Hank Willis Thomas (previously) to Four Freedoms Park.

“The world’s eyes have been focused on the courage of Iranian citizens in their quest for freedom, in the face of increasingly grave danger,” said activist Nazanin Afshin-Jam Mackay. “The Islamic Republic has censored them and attempted to blind the world to the potential of this movement. Eyes on Iran is our response to their call for a free Iran.”

French artist JR (previously) joined the initiative on December 4, drawing more than 300 people who participated in a large-scale public work. Those in attendance stood next to a silhouette of sixteen-year-old activist Nika Shakarami, who was killed in September during protests against Amini’s death. Volunteers swayed their arms to mimic wind blowing through the teen’s hair, serving as a poignant reminder of the unjust restrictions Iranian women face.

If you’re in New York, you can see the Eyes on Iran works at the park through January 1.

Art Design History Photography

The Tessellated and Elaborately Detailed Ceilings of Iranian Mosques

Celling of Hazrate-Masomeh’s mosque in Qom, Iran, all images courtesy of Mehrdad Rasoulifard (@m1rasoulifard)

Capturing the intricately tiled ceilings of centuries old mosques, Instagram photographer Mehrdad Rasoulifard (@m1rasoulifard) gives his followers both a history lesson and aesthetic treat. The ceilings are not only covered in rich patterns, but architecturally structured to appear like complex tessellations or honeycombs. The mosques are built to include spiraling series of domes and indents, causing the viewer to get lost in their disorienting beauty.

Often Iranian architecture utilizes symbolic geometry, incorporating an abundant use of circles and squares obvious in the photographed buildings’ symmetrical layouts. Popular colors incorporated into these tiled structures include gold, white, and turquoise which are typically layered onto dark blue backgrounds.

The oldest structure photographed is over 900-years-old which hints at the vast architectural history found in Iran. You can see more of the country’s detailed places of worship and observation on Rasoulifard’s Instagram. (via Designboom)

Celling of Hazrate-Masomeh’s mosque in Qom, Iran

Celling of Hazrate-Masomeh’s mosque in Qom, Iran

Celling of Sheikh-Lotfollah’s mosque in Esfahan, Iran

Sheikh Lotfollah mosque in Esfahan,Iran, about 400 years old

Sheikh Lotfollah mosque in Esfahan, Iran, about 400 years old

Celling of Shahe-Cheragh’s mosque in Shiraz, Iran

Celling of Jameh’s mosque in Esfahan, Iran, 900 years old

Celling of Hazrate-Masomeh’s mosque in Qom, Iran

Celling of Nasir-Al-Molk’s mosque in Shiraz,Iran

Art

Babel Tower: A Kinetic Mirrored Ziggurat Reflects the Surrounding Iranian Landscape

Babel Tower is the latest artwork by Shirin Abedinirad (previously) who has become known for her outdoor mirror installations designed to reflect landscapes and elements of architecture. This newest piece, a collaboration with interaction designer Gugo Torelli, adds a kinetic component to a stair-stepped ziggurat that simultaneously reflects elements of the sky, horizon, and ground while slowly rotating 360 degrees. She shares about the piece:

Babel Tower is an interactive installation that recontextualizes the spiritual architecture of the Babel Tower with modern materials, creating a union between ancient history and our present world; it is combing the past, present and offering a union for future. The top view of installation by reflecting the sky is connecting it to the earth, symbolizing the aim of Babel tower to reach for the heaven; The structural use of mirrors, serve as a reflective vessel for light, an integral feature of paradise.

You can see more views of the sculpture on her website, and watch a video of the piece in motion down below. (via Colossal Submissions)