Grey Noise Gallery presents Fazal Rizvi’s new solo show titled ‘A Mirror in my Pocket’ taking place from May 7th until July 20, 2024.
In the summer of 2020, Fazal Rizvi embarked on a trek through Pakistan’s Karakoram mountains, aiming to record the sounds of glaciers and their surroundings. Upon returning to Maastricht and reviewing the recordings, he found that the audio files failed to capture what their ears had experienced, considering the endeavour unsuccessful.
This marked the beginning of a long-term research project centred on the concept of failure: the failure to record, to listen, and even to recognise the challenge of documenting such an unruly landscape aurally. Reflecting on these failures, they uncovered a deeper desire: the longing to find refuge in these mountains, to capture their images and sounds. This led to a critical inquiry into what this desire signifies and its place within the historical and cultural gaze upon such terrains.
The project explores these themes by delving into the intersections of the present and the past, the colonial and historical, the mythical and material, the molecular and geological, and the symbolic and tangible. It seeks to confront and unravel the layers of imagery and perception. The work reflects on moments where landscapes resist being recorded, where images elude capture, mythical elements conceal themselves, and where only blurs remain visible.
This body of work engages with the complexities of perceiving and documenting the natural world, challenging the notion that such landscapes can be easily interpreted or recorded. It examines the inherent difficulties in capturing the essence of these terrains and the persistent desire to connect with them, ultimately questioning the broader implications of this pursuit within a historical and cultural context.
About Fazal Rizvi
Fazal Rizvi (b. 1987, Karachi, Pakistan) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Karachi. His work spans personal, social, and political themes. Rizvi has explored the materiality and immateriality of the sea and its borders, while also focusing on memory, forgetting, and monument-making within personal and familial contexts. Since 2020, he has been engaged in long-term research on the glacial and mountainous terrain in northern Pakistan. Rizvi graduated from the National College of Arts, Lahore in 2010. His residencies include Arcus Studios (Japan, 2011), Gasworks Studios (London, 2014), Pro Helvetia (Zurich, 2020), Jan van Eyck Academie (Netherlands, 2020-21), and Cite des Arts (Paris, 2023).
Location: Grey Noise Gallery, Dubai.
Dates: May 7th until July 20, 2024.