iMOTION Gallery Exhibition

May 17 – July 19, 2018
J. Wayne Stark Galleries

IMPORTANT NOTICE:  Due to the artists’ accepting new positions in California, this exhibition will be closing on July 19 instead of July 29 as previously published.

Movement can be contemplated “as the natural condition of all things”. In this manner, architecture can generally be identified as a dynamic responsiveness to a variety of intricate relationships among form, space, structure, materiality, environment, and the sense. In spite of the variations that may occur over the course of a day or a year, as surprising as it seems, changeability is not an imminent part of buildings. iMOTION demonstrates the concept of transformability as a new design tool in architecture. Here, the architectural attributes of the mechanism, which is the ability to change in shape and pattern, are the main concern.

Fascinating and impressive to watch, kinetic compositions never cease to amaze Negar and Alireza. Movable objects capture their imaginations and keep them entertained for hours as they spin, twirl, flex or glide, as if they have a life of their own. Likewise, when a set of motionless objects suddenly spring to life and move, their stunning vibrancy delights Negar’s and Alireza’s senses and sometimes mesmerizes them. Negar and Alireza have realized that manipulating and running movable objects can engender pleasure in them. The authentic pleasure of watching motion always retains a certain sense of joy and cheerfulness for them as well.

Alireza Borhani Haghighi is a lecturer in the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University.

Negar Kalantar is an assistant professor in the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University.