Marlena Artis - Gohar Dashti post 6

1) Which of the artist's many technical choices are of interest to you and why?

I really enjoy the color palette of her series, "Home". The color palette was the first thing that had drawn me in; everything looks so serene and calming. Buildings with overgrown plants surrounding them have always really intrigued me, it's something I've never been able to experience before. Dashti had also staged some of these photographs since they were not fully engulfed by nature. None the less, contrast between man made buildings intertwined with nature is just so alluring.

2) What do you believe are the artist's conceptual and/or thematic intentions?

Dashti seems to have wanted to bring attention to what happens to our homes when they've been abandoned. All of these were shot in Iran homes, of families who have fled due to social and political reasons. I believe Dashti wanted her viewers to really contemplate their own definition of home, to consider what their sense of belonging is. Also, I believe she is challenging her viewers to think about what exactly a home is and where are our place as humans are on earth. Over time, buildings will inevitable be abandoned at a certain point in time. These abandoned buildings will be engulfed by nature until it is no longer in existence. Therefore, the sense of refuge is now engulfed as well by nature.

3) How do you personally respond to these choices and intents?

Dashti's choice to stage some of these photographs doesn't bother me at all. I actually encourage the idea of playing with what scenes one will want to shoot. Unreal or real, staged photographs are made to fabricate a bigger idea. As for her color palette and lighting choice, I love the simple and softly lit aesthetic. Dashti's concept for her series is quite interesting, one that I haven't put much thought into prior to this article. Her idea is something we humans don't really think about to begin with since we don't live for long, and these processes she's trying to express happen over centuries. Personally, I'm not quite certain how to respond to her conceptual idea. I don't have an extremely well thought out and articulated opinion on this matter, but I simply believe that humans build a space we call "home" for ourselves in the short life span that we have on earth. The earth graciously allows us all to reside here and once our time is up, it reclaims itself.