PARTIES

"'Party,' in the general vocabulary of world intellectuals, is basically a unified social organization with a 'world-view,' an 'Ideology,' a 'philosophy of history,' and 'ideal social order,' a 'class foundation,' a 'class orientation,' a 'social leadership,' a 'political philosophy,' a 'political orientation,' a 'tradition,' a 'slogan,' a 'strategy,' a "tactic of struggle," and … a "hope" that wants to change the "status quo" in man, society, people, or a particular class, and establish the "desired status" in its stead." — Ali Shariati, in: The Islamic Quarterly, Vol. 27-29, (1983), p. 215

"Party, party, party
Party, party, party
Party, party, party"
— Andrew W.K. "The Power of Partying"

The video PARTIES uses black-and-white versions of logos and banners belonging to past and current Iranian political parties and groups, set to a snapping/clapping beat.
Inserted into this display, a pair of hands appear, performing a "beshkan"(بشكن), also known as the "Persian snap", a traditional Iranian finger snap requiring both hands. Often used in Persian dances, it creates a crackling/clicking noise similar in mechanism to a usual snap but louder in practice. PARTIES randomizes and collages alternating sequences of these contradicting symbols, images and sounds.

The work is realized in relation to the project "THE FUTURE STATE", an ongoing series of roundtable speculations about the future state of the Islamic Republic of Iran, conceived within the 2018 Goethe at LUX Residency, London.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LczrnLVW...