You have heard it before, collaboration is the key to success. We founded The Experience Alchemists (TEA) with collaboration in mind. In fact, it is baked into our core values and one of the things we like most about our work. We have the pleasure of working closely with a wide range of mission based organizations and in doing so, we often partner with our diverse group of Creative Partners to build the perfect team for each project.
Just a few months after launching TEA in the spring of 2021, we were approached by the Akron Art Museum to help them develop a media based art project that connected and engaged with the Akron community. The project was funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, a nonprofit philanthropic organization that supports art that engages, educates and delights residents in ways that are authentic to each community.
In our earliest conversations with the museum team, we knew the work would be large scale and seated in an open, public space on their campus. We wanted the piece to be rooted in and facing the community and a celebration of the Akronites that make the city such a unique and special place.
At TEA we try not to fetishize technology, in fact, we believe that magic happens when technology disappears or is unexpected. It can surprise and delight, act as a portal to another time and place, or induce empathy in powerful ways. Therefore, we were delighted when Bahareh and Farzaneh Safarani agreed to partner with us to submit a proposal to the museum. We have long been fans of The Safarani Sisters’ work and the subtle yet powerful use of video in their paintings.
Bahareh and Farzaneh are twin sisters who began painting together as teenagers. They were born in Iran and received their BA degrees from Tehran University and MFAs from Northeastern University. For the last several years they have created projection paintings that are striking and hauntingly beautiful. Put simply, they project videos onto painted canvases that bring the flat two dimensional surfaces to life. The effect is subtle and completely mesmerizing. The projections harmonize with the painted canvas and create a poetic choreography that evokes empathy, memory, and lived experience. As you approach their paintings you begin to realize something different about them, and then finally, it clicks…the images are subtly moving and they pull you into a striking and thought provoking narrative.
“One of the things that we like to discover in our life is the inner world of ourselves. Self-realization is a key to understanding the world, life and people. We start by knowing ourselves before doing the work of our paintings. Our artworks are responses to our comprehension of the world achieved through the journey of self awareness.” — Bahareh and Farzaneh Safarani
The Safarani Sisters’ personal journeys of exploration and discovery, rooted in shared experience, provide the content for their work:
“One of the things that we like to discover in our life is the inner world of ourselves. Self-realization is a key to understanding the world, life and people. We start by knowing ourselves before doing the work of our paintings. Our artworks are responses to our comprehension of the world achieved through the journey of self awareness.”
Knowing that the painting would be a celebration of Akron and its residents, the Sisters and I took a two day tour of the city with Jon Fiume, The John S. Knight Director and CEO of the Akron Art Museum. He showed us all around town and introduced us to a wide range of community leaders who provided great insight into the city and the Akronites that make it special. After reflecting on their visit, the Sisters had the brilliant idea of painting a beautiful interior scene that included a single, full length mirror. The final painting, called Reflections, features a projected video of Akronites inside this mirror.
With guidance from The Akron Black Artists Guild, the museum team recruited and commissioned Akron native and local creative talent, Tyron Hoisten to film over thirty members of the community. The Sisters then edited this footage into the video featured in the mirror. As a result, Akronites were active participants in this collaborative work, making it a true reflection of the city. As the viewer looks at the painting and into the mirror, they see Akron reflected back at them.
With this community in mind, Jon Fiume noted “The Sisters’ addition of the digital projection of local people is allowing visitors to participate with the work in a way that is uplifting and engaging. The piece has served in a small way as a means to bring the community together during the recent challenges that we are facing.”
The painting is installed in the Museum’s garden, looking out onto the community, inviting them to come closer to engage with it. The piece, the largest ever executed by the Sisters, is both intimately personal and a large-scale public celebration. For the Sisters the artwork honors the people of Akron, reflects on personal journeys, and contemplates our shared experiences as human beings.
