Birds No Longer Sing

CONFERENCE OF THE BIRDS shows an outtake from an analysis of the correlation between time and place and of the historical landscape of Iran.

CONFERENCE OF THE BIRDS shows an outtake from an analysis of the correlation between time and place and of the historical landscape of Iran. How do places appear and disappear? How do we attach meaning to a certain site and in what way photography can deal with deconstructed icons in comparison to the (a-)historical and exotic form of a palm tree sticking its tongue out towards the straight forward photographed Iranian landscape.

Various historical sites are shown in a direct way in the photographs. You see composed images of desolated ruins, artefacts and cultural heritage sites, a brick ‘Tower of Babel’, sensual forms of nature, stones and the desert in all its emptiness.

Besides these photographs we also see the decor of a palm tree village. Here the photographs move in closer to the landscape in comparison to the other places documented. The village is small and serene. Palm trees appear all over the place, they are burned, bend, dry and dead. They resemble the same as the portrayed pillars and artefacts that are left behind on various historical sites and can be associated to land art installations.

The small desert village has been photographed obsessively and captured from every angle possible. Elements are positioned in the frame so that they are repeated in the next frame. The ruined facade recurs, the bend palms recur, the same lightning and the mountains in the background as well.

The installation is composed of framed photographs in two different sizes accompanied by a book (showing the palm tree village) that will be published by Art Paper Editions in 2019.