The Frame
Ardalan’s installation uses architectural form and the difficulty of translation to comment on tensions between individuals and nation-states. He has commissioned, from Iran, a copy of the entrance doors to the immigration detention center in Märsta, which have then been shipped to Sweden. Speakers nearby relay recordings of Farsi poetry, written by refugees in Sweden. On a video screen, a nonsensical Google translation of the poetry plays. He wanted to emphasize the smooth flow of commodities across borders in contrast with human migration. Ardalan’s preoccupations are confronting and reflecting on the concept of power—examining how the dominant power infuses its will and interests into the fabric of society and tries to institutionalize its understanding of reality as something genuine and absolute. Through sculptural installations, he tends to construct a nonlinear narrative and unsettle the mechanism of the hegemonic representation.
