Under the shower is a video installation with three elements: a fabric (Long), a video projection and audio. The fabric is hanging from a gallery’s ceiling space. The video is projected through the fabric and the audio of the shower is playing. First, audiences see the fabric, then they hear the sound of water and at last see the female body. The body is not so obvious because of the fabric’s pattern, highlighting its importance over the body. I have created a contrast by projecting the female body on the masculine fabric.
The Long is a traditional Iranian red fabric with a plaid pattern. In Iran, men have long used it to cover themselves in public baths, hiding their bodies from the waist to the knees. Because traditional public baths no longer exist, the Long has now become nothing more than a mere rag, used to cover windows or by street children to clean windshields.
The reason I use the Long in my work is that, at one point, it was a metaphor for the transition from a traditional to a modern Iran. The fabric has lost its old function and become something new. It was used to cover the body but has now become something akin to a handkerchief. The pattern itself is visually appealing, as it overlaps and makes colors darker. The transparency of the Long varies with the plaid pattern.
I had two goals by making this video installation: returning to tradition with a new look – returning to the original function of the Long, but associating it instead with a female body rather than a masculine one.
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