Sending Prayers to Mars
Medium: 4 Channel video installation
Duration: 2:36
Sending Prayers to Mars was commissioned by Samt, a biannual occurrence that, principally, manifests in digital form, and is to be digested virtually through a curated narrative, fabricated from a collection of micro investigative feedbacks on the gist of a mutual concern. Thought to be the first online exhibition space dealing with the Middle East and providing full anonymity to artists in politically controlled geographies. Samt is founded on the merit of providing absolute freedom and anonymity to artists living in controlled regions.
You can see the film on the website along with other works that is part of the second volume: https://samt.co/
About the film:
The four videos ambiguously convey a prayer from the present time to the future. The performance combines a romanticised sculptural presence with a child’s prayer sent to Mars, ending the journey from a soft form to a solid receiver and combining live performance, video collage and found footage.
The prayer, traditionally read by men only, is the beginning of all prayers and through the performance of a sexually ambiguous character questions the gender specifications in which minority voices are marginalised, silenced and isolated all over the world.
Sending Prayers To Mars invades the spaces which exist before judgmental attitudes. During the journey, the duty of praying is transmitted into a sound which, when reaching space, becomes something beyond noise and which ends in silence.
As science fiction transforms into science fact, prayers remain within in the realm of belief. This instillation suggests a melancholic coexistence and conveys a sense of hope.