layers | meaning by reza aliabadi
superimposition correlation inscription perception narration
themat ic cartography
Five years ago, in August 2008, I spent five days driving the Trans Canada Highway. I used that 5000-kilometre trip as the basis for a photo installation that I later called Transimage 1 , a multi-layered scene resulting from the superimposition of fifty photographs taken at intervals of one hundred kilometres. The outcome, which was a single image, gave me the opportunity to experience at a glance both a thousand kilometres of place and a condensed exposure of a five-day experience. Basically, the superimposed illustration had created new possibilities for new readings and interpretations. Recently a client of mine, who is also a friend and a graphic designer, surprised me with a diagram. He had overlaid all the architectural drawings that I had prepared for his house (right). The result was a single map/drawing/diagram that had embedded in it all the necessary information to describe this architectural project. Although one cannot build the house out of that single drawing, it characterises the entire project. These two disconnected (but similar), exploratory (but relevant) experiences led me to superimposition as a method for an experimental mapping. As I understand it, this technique has been also used in cartography to produce maps by overlaying correlated material; sometimes to conceal something but most of the time to add to the depth of information in an overall image. I curated an exercise in our atelier and Lailee Soleimani, Ladan Niknam and I did few experiments in different realms such as identity, nationality, race and religion. The intention was to explore and produce figuration without conscious motivation except for the revealing of a variety of relationships at a glance. While mapping can reduce the complexity of that which is mapped, here we tried the opposite. Since superimposition offers new narratives quite different from each individual component, we responded with a short sentence about each of the illustrations, superimposing our thoughts and interpretations onto the graphic superimpositions. The images are provocative. Familiar concepts defamiliarised by layering upon layers lead us somewhere else. They are triggers, still connected to the collection of original images. c
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Behrouz Hariri
above: Patio House drawings
Design Architect: Reza Aliabadi [rzlbd] Project Manager: Amin Sheivari Construction: Maxamin Corp Building Type: Single family house Location: Toronto Basics: Two storey wood structure Lot: 25’ x 100’ Living Area: 2000 sq ft
1 Aliabadi, Reza. ‘Transimage’, On Site 21:weather , spring (2009): 50-51 Aliabadi, Reza. ‘A Text for Trans Canada’, rzlbd POST Vol.1 No.08 (2009): 37
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