A distorted tree with parts suspended in the air is Iranian artist Karim Allahkhani’s art installation for the 7th Geumgang Nature Art Biennale 2016 in South Korea.
The Geumgang Nature Art Biennale is an international nature art exhibition organized by YATOO, the Korean Nature Art Association. The biennale has a two-month residency program in which environmental artist Allahkhani is participating.
“I’ve created two works so far. They are to be showcased at an exhibition to be held on July 23,” he told ISNA.
‘Here, a Tree’ is one of his works. The distorted form of tree encourages viewers to seek beyond their first observations and find more. “In this work, created with anamorphosis (a distorted projection or drawing which appears normal when viewed from a particular point or with a suitable mirror or lens) technique, the audiences are invited to find a particular spot from where they can read the entirety of the work, a totality that has a symbolic expression.”
“As a representation of life, the tree has symbolic significance in my environmental works. Tree, water and soil are closely tied with human beings and their lives,” Allahkhani said.
“Today, technological achievements are bringing along with them the indiscriminate destruction of nature. The process continues and pushes us into a corner where we have to search to find a tree.”
Enigmatic Work
This ‘search’ is reflected in his recent installation. Pieces of a tree are enigmatically suspended in the air. It is what the audience sees at first. But to give his searchers a clue, Allahkhani has marked a spot with a pair of blue footprints. This is the point from where the audiences can stand and see the pieces glue together and form a perfect tree.
A professor at Tehran University of Art, Allahkhani is also an environmental activist. Whenever possible, he uses his art to create awareness about environmental issues.
Allahkhani, 41, was born in Neyshabur, Khorasan Razavi Province. He has taken part in more than 10 environmental art festivals in Iran, and more than 30 local and foreign group exhibitions. He has displayed his artworks in over 20 individual exhibitions in Mashhad, Neyshabur, and Kerman. His works have also entered Arco’s Museum of South Korea as the choice environmental artist from Iran.
