YARAT! Organization presents Teymur Daimi`s project "Transcommunication: interference of senses"
Baku, July 7 (AZERTAC). A presentation of artist Teymur Daimi`s project "Transcommunication: interference of senses", organized by the YARAT! Nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of contemporary art of Azerbaijan was held here on Friday.
This media project touches upon the important issues of globalization, transnational factors, conceptual power and the impact of mass media, as well as the issue of detachment as result of globalization.
This work can be seen on the Fountains Square that dates back to last quarter of XIX century and is placed at the very heart of Baku. The square was designed as a place for conducting parades and previously had three different names: Kolyubakin Square, Parapet and the Vain Garden. A monument of Alexander II was planned and the square was to be renamed Imperial Square, however the monument was never built because of the October revolution, the Square was renamed the Carl Marx Garden. Gradually it was turned into a public park in 1984 that was covered with paving stones and adorned with several fountains.
The significance that makes this place different from all the other areas is its centricity and footfall and today during the era of consumerism it is full of famous brands. Placing any piece of art at the Fountains Square is not only beneficial in terms of accessibility but is also prestigious symbolically (thus the conceptual power reveals itself). The most renowned international brands are intentionally situated exactly at the Fountains Square. Its positioning at the very heart of the city signifies the power of international corporations. Transnational factors tend to erase the uniqueness of a single culture and ignore cultural and historical identities of nations. This may lead to a personal detachment from spiritual roots and one`s individual traits.
The aim of the Transcommunication: interference of senses media project is to emphasize this problem by creating a situation of intellectual provocation, motivating people who pass by to think about what they view on the monitor. They will observe `Hollywood movies` tag lines (a variant of a branding slogan typically expressing the main message of the movie) appearing on the transforming background. The viewer will observe 33 advertising slogans, while absorbing 33 `Hollywood movies`. Quoting Gilles Deleuze, the viewer will see "concepts rather than percepts" of the movie, its pure meaning. The artist emphasizes `Hollywood movies` as one of the transnational products of globalization that aggressively implants the same way of thinking and behavioral model of acting all around the world.
The installations define a transnational Hollywood concept, being poured out of the monitor placed on top of a shopping center that is another symbol of cultural and economical expansion. The point of this meta-movie is that one will be able to see not only the tag lines but also other expressions, contrary in their meaning. These expressions are dealing with simple human relations and are directed at every individual. Therefore along with the flow of impersonal transnational messages, one will perceive humanistic messages that challenge them.
The Fountains Square, which was also known as the "Parapet", was formed in the heart of Baku as a rather small but extremely important public garden in the middle 1930s. That moderate-size green park was laid out due to demolition of a number of buildings along Krivaya and Kolyubakin streets (later called Yefim Saratovets street and nowadays known as Nigar Rafibeyli street). Pedestrian zone was furthermore broadened in the middle of 80s. Along its perimeter the Fountains Square is built up with diverse architectural structures starting from buildings of an oil boom times (1872-1920) and of Stalinist Empire-style to Khruschev-era as well as modern constructions "Nargiz" shopping center.
The green plants of the Fountains Square also have their interesting stories. For example, the famous palm tree near the "Nargiz" shopping center was once called by the older generation "Castro`s palm", according to rumors: the tree was presented to the former mayor of Baku Alish Lambaranski by Fidel Castro.
Teymur Daimi is a philosopher, painter and filmmaker in experimental art, who explores questions about globalization through the medium of film.
Teymur Daimi was born in Baku in 1966. A film director, he graduated from the A. Azimzade State Art College of Azerbaijan in 1985 and from the State Culture and Art University of Azerbaijan in 1993.
In 1996, Daimi published “The Find of the Way”, and in 2000 he defended his Ph.D. thesis at the Institute of Philosophy and Law of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan. He is the author of several articles and essays published in international publications on art and culture.
Daimi has also worked as an art expert in the “Arts, &c...” Centre of Contemporary Culture and as an art consultant for the international “Art Caucasus 2005” project. Since 2001, he has been working on audiovisual art as a multimedia artist and director. Daimi has taken part in international film festivals and exhibitions, and has worked with the “Bravo” and “Caspian Supplies” studios.
Founded in 2011 by Aida Mahmudova, YARAT! is a non-commercial, private organization dedicated to the promotion and nurturing of Azeri Contemporary art nationally and internationally.
Festival 012 Baku Public Art involves 21 artists, both professionals and beginners.
They have reflected in their works some historical places in Baku. The project will run until 1 September.
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