Nightmare in suspension

Alireza Movahedi

What pieces or projects have you been working on lately?
My working method has, for years, been tied to several specific projects: projects focused on particular psychological, philosophical, and political concepts. Themes such as the psychological gaps between the subjective and the objective, ideology, demythologization, human suffering, resistance, power, critique, and confronting capitalism, and…

Therefore, I do not finish one specific project and then move on to the next one. I advance my concerns simultaneously and then categorize them into different collections.

Of course, I should mention that lately my focus has been more on accelerationism. I create works that engage with the concepts of this perspective by using situations and metaphorical images.

What did you learn (or unlearn) while working on it?
Sometimes, after completing each work, a new perspective on that subject emerges for me. Even after I define a specific project and gather the works within it, that collection follows its own conceptual and visual path. It is as if it acquires a new identity—one whose direction and opening I had not previously perceived.

Therefore, I think it is not a matter of learning or unlearning, but rather of formation and intensification.

What words, ideas or emotions were running through your head?
As I have mentioned before, my mind is engaged with fundamental subjects. But if I were to point to a more focused and specific idea, I am always centered, in most of my works, on the concept of the threshold and liminal space.

Were there any conversations, movies, music, or books that made their way into that work?
The films of Tarkovsky, Béla Tarr, and Kubrick find their way into my works both visually and conceptually. As for books, I can point to the writings and works of Lacan, Gilles Deleuze, Hegel, Ray Brassier, Žižek, and Gramsci. The music that has always been inspiring for me in creating works is ambient music—for example, dark ambient and space ambient atmospheres. I should also mention my influence from atmospheric, nostalgic music within the hauntological genre.

What’s been the most difficult thing you’ve faced recently in your creative process?
To be honest, the month I have just gone through, and the days ahead, have been largely tied to social and political-philosophical concepts. The circumstances I experienced this month were full of suffering, anger, silence, and reflection. For this reason, I was not able to easily follow the path of creating my artworks. Of course, my mind is full of ideas, but the particular social and political conditions I am in have created a temporary suspension for me.

Nonetheless, I was able to create three works that were influenced by my experiences over the past month in Iran. These works emerged from fear, blockage, and suspension.

If your life were a movie this month, what would it be called and who would write the soundtrack?
Title: Nightmare in Suspension
Musician: The Caretaker

Which studios, laboratories, or workshops have you collaborated with recently or would you like to collaborate with in the future?
I have been collaborating for years with Albumen Gallery in London as one of their artists. Also, if a suitable opportunity for a new collaboration arises, why not?

Recommend one or more artists you follow who inspire you, and tell us what you like most about their work or their way of working.
Honestly, I have never regularly or consistently followed the work of a specific person in visual arts, or more precisely, fine art photography. In any case, those I follow on Instagram and X have remarkable works that sometimes leave me astonished.

For example, I can mention Gregory Crewdson, whose meticulousness, attention to detail, and ability to create atmosphere I greatly admire.