DORSA BASIJ | IT COMES OUR WAY

Dastan’s Basement presents “It Comes Our Way”, a photography-based work
by multi-media artist Dorsa Basij (b. 1990, Tehran) curated by Alborz Kazemi. “It Comes Our Way” opened in July 22 2022 and shall be on view until Friday, August 19.

In her first cooperation with Dastan’s Basement, the artist relies on archival photographs and videos to study the moment of explosion only to arrive at a new understanding of annihilation. For Dorsa Basij events following an explosion form a unified whole – when gases start to dissipate, we gradually see what remains. By recording images prior to detonation, the artist is looking at the process of destruction and annihilation in two phases: the moment of destruction and the process of annihilation. The process of annihilation doesn’t end with the destruction of the object but unfolds in stages. After the explosion, for example, when the dust has settled, its effects carry on for years to come.

Images that Dorsa records of the explosion turn into pure abstractions. Scenes that the artist had recorded of “wind” on video comprise single frames of “unexpected incidents” that distort the video images momentarily, turning into a game of hide and seek in the eyes of the observer. With these images, we come face to face with a moment whose meaning we cannot decipher.

Dorsa Basij studied Biology at the Azad University of Tehran. Her first solo exhibition, “Past Participle”, was held at Vali Gallery. Since then, she has participated in many group exhibitions, including, “Border” (Mah-e Mehr Gallery, Tehran, 2018), “Common Surface” (Vali Gallery, Tehran, 2019), “Before, Inbetween, After” (Vee Gallery, Tehran, 2019), “Dry Years” (Vali Gallery, Tehran, 2021), “Knot” (Meem Gallery, Los Angeles, 2021), “Industrial Heritage” (Deyhim Factory, Qiyam Dasht, 2021), “Gift, Schaumbad” (Freies Atelierhahus, Graz, Austria, 2022). She won the Deyhim Industrial Heritage Prize for this last exhibition. In 2018, Vali Gallery presented a selection of her work at Teer Art Fair in Tehran. She was also a participant at Bongah Art Book Fair and in 2021 a video of hers was shown on Neo Shibori Network of Japan.

Courtesy of Dastan’s Basement

Dorsa Basij, It Comes Our Way, installation view.