SCHEMATA
M.H. Rahmani
PUTTY'S CORONATION is pleased to announce the opening of SCHEMATA, a solo exhibition by MH. Rahmani at Putty’s Coronation on 1086 Myrtle Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11206.
SCHEMATA October 23rd - November 20th, 2021
Open Reception October 23rd, 2021 5-9pm
In his solo debut for Putty’s Coronation, MH. Rahmani presents; SCHEMATA. A series of interactive spatial mixed reality installations.
هرکسی از ظنِّ خود شد یار من
- Rumi “The Song Of Reed
Everyone becomes friends with me according to his faculty of perception;
-Translation by Türkman, 1992
The 13th century Sufi poet Rumi opens his most famous work, the Masnavi, with a poem called ‘The Song of Reed’. As Rumi references others’ perceptions, his own work is subject to the same - this is, each translator’s work necessarily embodies their own perception within their respective translation. In that way - any one person’s own window of seeing is always manifest.
For SCHEMATA, Rahmani has created two “windows” that hang in the center of the gallery. Using motion tracking, images are projected onto a framed transparent screen, creating a spatial augmented/mixed reality portal. As the viewer's movements are tracked, the image registers what they are seeing from their point of view and adjusts accordingly. Rahmani turns the viewer's attention into an artistic material, becoming the input that informs the artwork's complete expression and underscoring the body as a vociferous broadcast signal. By transitioning from an ego-centered to a subject-centered interaction, Rahmani doesn’t seek to replace or alter reality around the user, rather create a reciprocity between the observer, the object, and their environment.
Such an ethos suggests perceiving and performing bodies, nature, and objects differently; a proposition for material (co-)existence to be explored. By creating an immersive experience that pulls viewers to observe through an embodied interaction and an alternate reality, Rahmani invites the participant to meditate on what it means to see and challenges the notion that the mind and body are separate in meaning-making. In doing so, SCHEMATA seeks to relocate viewers by emphasizing their own materiality and exploring their dependence on fragile or robust systems of understanding.
Mohammad Rahmani is a New York-based interactive media artist and new media researcher from Iran. His work has been featured in Archuwum Art Transparent, TADAEX Festival, and ACM SIGGRAPH Conference. He has a background in observational astronomy, computer science, and media production, and served as vice-chair in Tehran ACM SIGGRAPH before graduating from NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program.