Ali Miharbi
Séance
September 9 - October 8, 2011
Opening Reception: Friday, September 9, 6-9pm
INTERSTATE PROJECTS is pleased to present Séance, Ali Miharbi’s first solo exhibition in New York. In separate rooms, there will be two site specific kinetic installations, Séance and Random Whip. Both installations focus on Miharbi’s investigations into the relationships between analytic and synthetic processes. Using his background in engineering, Miharbi takes systems within the fields of economy, management, psychology, sociology, computer science, and linguistics; where top-down and bottom-up approaches are used in conjunction, to create fruitful feedback loops.
Séance, 2011 is a mechanical sound installation that reflects basic human actions such as working, sleeping, eating and walking. Séance is activated by using Twitter feeds that have basic words such as “walk,” “eat,” and “work” in them. These feeds are limited through a programmed filter that only uses feeds from the Eastern Time Zone and only up to thirty-two words. Throughout the gallery’s floor, ceiling and walls, there are pieces of paper with these basic functions written on them. These fixed points are linked to a solenoid motor and every time the corresponding word on the paper is tweeted, the motors hit the structure they are fixed to. The frequency of a given word changes based on the time of day and also which day of the week it is, reflecting the cycle of action or inaction.
In an adjoining room is Random Whip, 2011, a mechanical device equipped with a whip that continually hits different spots on the gallery wall. This piece reflects how violence, when isolated from human application turns into a mere spectacle between mechanical and structural elements. The absurdity of this action humorously points out the dilemma of resistance-power oppositions and how these can turn into symbiotic relationships.
Ali Miharbi received his M.F.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2010 after acquiring a dual degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Art Theory and Practice with a concentration in Painting from Northwestern University in 2000. He has exhibited within the U.S. and internationally including; Brazil, South Korea, Turkey, Mexico, and Australia. Recent exhibitions include; FIESP Cultural Center, São Paulo Brazil; Contemporary Istanbul Art Fair, Istanbul Turkey; eMerge Media Space, Townsville, Australia; TACC Visualization Lab, Austin, Texas; and SpaceCamp Gallery, Indianapolis, Indiana.
