Machine 855
Ghost Player
Papier mache clay, video, projector, lenses.
2019 SOMArts, San Francisco
Machine 855 is a recreation of a “looking box” the Persian King brought back from France. In Persian, it’s called “Shahr Farang” which means “Foreign Cities.”
Recreation of the Persian peep box, playing snippets of artist's childhood memories.
Shahr Farang is here; come and watch. Yelled the old showman in the street,
calling all the neighborhood’s kids to
come and watch over and over again the same pictures of the Raree-Show.
He was standing in the middle of the neighborhood with his Peep-Box. That traditional colorful dress of his and that
wool hat made him look very different, strange and interesting.
“He has come from the magical world and sells pictures of the places that are not here, pictures of hope”, I thought at that time.
This is not just a machine to entertain you. It's a trap. it will record your memory and play it back to you over and over again.