In the Febuary reading week i took a visit to London's Southbank centre. I went specificly to see The Haywards current exhibition called, 'Laughing in a Foreign Language'. It investigates the whole spectrum of humour, from jokes, gags and slapstick to irony and satire, exploring juts how much humour is used as a role in contemporary art.
It prompts the viewer to use humour as a reaction to the unfamilar or the unconfrotable, something which we are not quite sure how to respond too, as well as questioning what it means to share a sense of humour and what it is that makes an individual laugh.
Ghazel's work is about identity. The 'Me' films are autobiographical; directly inspired from her everyday life and observations. She lives her life and then lives it again in front of the camera allowing others to see.
She was born and initially based in Iran and currently based in Paris; as part of her work, she juxtaposes eastern and western elements that form her sense of self. Dealing with feelings of being both an insider and outsider in the East and West she creates work which refers to her nomadic status; wandering from home to home.
'My films are like home movies and are filmed with a consumer model Hi-8 camera placed on a tripod. I film; I act and I edit. I play with reality and fiction. This work is an obsessive work – and my life and films are one. All the paradoxes that make me: make my Me films; and my films are my parallel life.' Ghazel
Her most recent exhibient which was the one i saw at the southbank centre is called 'Wanted'. It is influcned when in 1997 French Immigration Office denied her the permit of stay and asked her to leave France, being of Iranian origin, did not peacefully wait further, in any case unfavorable, development of events. In her own way she met the challenge so typical for lives and fate of multimillion population of dislocated. She made an announcement and printed the poster where, beside obligatory photo of herself, the following text was printed:
"URGENT, Woman, 33, artist of Middle Eastern origin and WP (without permit) seeks a husband, from EU, preferably France, contact e-mail ..." and so forth.
"My work is about the foreigner's position in the West and the foreigner's position in Iran" - says Ghazel and continues: "My films are like a home video, through images I document my life, my reflections, impressions, thoughts, fears, remembrances, wishes, experiences, my present, past and future, my emotions, hopes and desires, my energy and complexes, paradoxes, my personality and my dreams, my recollections and my memory. They are my parallel life."
She is trying to demonstrate to Western cultures that she is not alone. Her population counts many millions and whether world wants it or not, it has to come to peace with this fact. The sooner, the better.
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