writing

KH: Let’s talk about your writing. It has appeared in a number of different types of publications, including art critical journals such as Artforum, Afterall, Parkett, and Texte zur Kunst, and exhibition catalogues, as well as more standard academic journals and publishing houses. Would you say that this allows you more freedom within your writing practice?

IB: Yes, absolutely. I started out as a music critic and radio DJ many years ago, so I got a lot of training in basic journalism and various genres and styles of writing, depending on the publication and the audience – from straightforward reporting to the more literary or essayistic and the more academic. I really enjoy being able to have different voices for different contexts, and I also just enjoy writing! [Laughs]

Keeley Haftner: You’re in New York City currently for your first solo show in the United States, ISIS Bullet Hole Paintings at New York’s Jaeckel Gallery, is that correct?

Piers Secunda: Yes, it will be on view until May 6th. There was a panel discussion at the gallery with critic Anthony Haden and Tim Slade, the director of a film called The Destruction of Memory. We also had a screening of a powerful ten-minute film called The Quake by Matteo Barzini, which highlights the destruction of mostly religious architectural sites in Syria.

Keeley Haftner: So Simon, this will be somewhat of a traditional interview, but punctuated with my mention of selections from George Brecht’s Water Yam for you to respond to. Sound good?

Simon Anderson: Okay!

KH: Let’s begin with:

TWO DURATIONS

• red

• green

SA: Brecht was a scientist, so he kept good notes and drawings. He begins by playing with electric lights for different durations. Around this time he’s in a class with John Cage, where they work very closely and developed a bond. Cage kind of allows him to relax a little and open up his work. So, after all of his experiments engaging the complexity of electronics, he just goes with two durations: red and green, which I think is a lovely piece. I’ve done it myself and seen it done in many ways. Of all of them I think my favourite is eating the green salad and drinking the red wine – a most excellent version!

Keeley Haftner: You’re still okay with me recording you for the Bad at Sports blog, right?

Morehshin Allahyari: Yes, I will tell you all my secrets!

KH: Okay, you are on record now. I have to admit to you that I’ve never done this before – you’re like, my test subject.

MA: Okay!

KH: So let’s start way back. You came to be known in Iran for a book that you wrote when you were twelve, translated in English as “My Ancestor’s Barefootness.”

MA: Yes, I was thinking about ‘barefootness’ not in reference to poverty, but in regard to struggles and taboos and things that my family had to deal with. It is a three hundred and eight page book. It’s about my grandmother, and her life in Kurdistan.