Is there something beautiful about an explosion? This is one of many questions raised in a new and ambitious, site-specific installation by San Francisco artist Sanaz Mazinani. Threshold presents a video created with explosion scenes from 11 recent Hollywood movies, mirrored and multiplied beyond recognition. The resulting kaleidoscopic Islamic geometries of color, pattern and movement—inspired by the artist’s trips home to Iran—are reflected in dazzling laser-cut mirrored panels that line the space. This interplay between the architectural setting and the moving image results in a shift in perception, prompting audiences to consider the complexities of entertainment, mass media and the violence of war.
Sanaz Mazinani is a dynamic artist whose work—primarily photography, video and large-scale installation—explores the conceptual and formal frames of photography, especially as they relate to digital culture, perception and representation. She has received awards and honors from the Canada Council for the Arts, D.C. Commission for the Arts and Humanities, Kala Art Institute, Magic of Persia Contemporary Art Prize, Stanford University and San Francisco Arts Commission.
Main image: Still from Threshold (details), 2015, by Sanaz Mazinani (Iranian-Canadian, b. 1978). Digital video. Courtesy of the artist and Stephen Bulger Gallery. © Sanaz Mazinani.
Sanaz Mazinani: Threshold was organized by the Asian Art Museum.
The artist would like to thank Marc Mayer, curator of Threshold, Mani Mazinani for creating the sound composition, her production team: Charlene Tan, Tyler Pew and Erik Ben Heckman at LMNOP-Design, Paul Letcher, Maria Wilson, Micah Cupid-Bensons, Alex Stretcher, and her friends and community for their generous support in helping assemble and realize the work.
