Taraneh Hemami: Bullet Points
Thoreau Center for Sustainability
The Presidio of San Francisco
Part of The Open Moment curated by Leila Grothe
November 14, 2013 - January 10, 2014
Opening Reception: Thursday, November 14, 5 - 8pm
Bullet Points 2013 is a site-specific installation by San Francisco-based Iranian artist Taraneh Hemami, produced in collaboration with Invisible Venue for The Open Moment, an exhibition that considers the social, economic, personal and political ramifications of conflict. Bullet Points presents visual data about casualties in the American conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, contrasted with visual data from one year of the American gun violence epidemic. The installation occupies an arterial corridor at the Thoreau Center for Sustainability, situated in the former Letterman Army Medical Center circa 1890 at the historic Presidio. The Open Moment is jointly presented by the Thoreau Center for Sustainability, a network of nonprofit organizations engaged in social justice issues, and EMERGENCY USA, a nonprofit organization that provides medical relief for civilian victims of war and poverty in conflict zones around the world. The Open Moment is curated by independent curator Leila Grothe.
For this work, Hemami extracted data from various online resources, including www.costsofwar.org, www.theguardian.com, www.gunpolicy.org, www.iraqbodycount.org, and www.thenation.com. The work is comprised of layers of information that contrasts the numbers of U. S. military casualties with civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, indicated by dark red vinyl. Further, a second layer on the U. S. map represents gun violence deaths, indicated by lighter red vinyl. The result is a transparent data map, positioned over a series of windows, visible from within and outside the Thoreau Center. Bullet Points implicates the viewer when sunlight casts red refractions of data into ambulatory space.
Iranian artist Taraneh Hemami is a visual artist based in San Francisco, California. Her larger body of work explores the complex cultural politics of exile through personal and collective projects. Her work has been exhibited at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Intersection for the Arts, the Luggage Store (all San Francisco), the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), Beirut Exhibition Center (Lebanon), and the Sharjah Art Museum (Sharjah, United Arab Emirates), among other venues. This is her first collaboration with Invisible Venue. View Hemami's website at www.taranehhemami.com.
Thoreau Center for Sustainability, The Presidio of San Francisco, Building 1016, 1014 Torney Avenue (at Lincoln Boulevard). Viewing hours: Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm and by appointment. Contact: Leila Grothe (leilagrothe@gmail.com) or Bruce DeMartini (bruce@thoreau.org)