Art as resistance against political violence

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Priest with Eagle
Priest with Eagle - Exhibition view
Venus
Venus - Exhibition view
Lamassu
Lamassu - Exhibition view
King of Hatra
King Uthal
Ebu
Nergal
Maren
Gorgon
Marten
Barmaren

Material Speculation: ISIS

I remember the first time I came across a video that was showing an object being 3D printed was around four years ago and I was really amazed by the process; just watching a digital 3D model becoming an actual physical object layer by layer. 3D printer is a technology filled with hope and promise. So since the very beginning of learning about 3D printing, I became fascinated about critical and political ways that I could integrate it in my practice, both as a Utopian and Dystopian medium.

My series​ Material Speculation: ISIS​ is a 3D modeling and 3D printing project focused on the reconstruction of 12 selected statues from the Roman period city of Hatra and Assyrian artifacts from Nineveh that were destroyed by ISIS in 2015 in a series of highly-publicized YouTube videos. The series goes beyond metaphoric gestures and digital and material forms of the artifacts by including a flash drive and a memory card inside the body of each 3D-printed object. Like time capsules, each object is sealed (though accessible) for future civilizations. The information in these flash drives includes images, maps, PDF files, and videos gathered on the artifacts and sites that were destroyed. Thus ​Material Speculation: ISIS​ creates a practical and political possibility for artifact archival, while also proposing 3D printing technology as a tool for resistance and documentation.

Material Speculation inspects Petropolitical and poetic relationships between 3D Printing, Plastic, Oil, Technocapitalism and Jihad.

ARTWORK CATEGORIES

Morehshin Allahyari

Morehshin Allahyari