The Scale Of Nth Factor

The Scale Of Nth Factor
(Two Person Exhibition: Arezu Zargar & Hanieh Khodabandehloo)
Interactive kinetic installation, Photo Collages & Video Art
Year:2022-2023
Yafteh Art Gallery, Tehran
 
 Statement: (by Behrooz Avazpoor)

Initially, it goes without saying that "scale" was essentially created for "comparison" and has been used by humanity throughout history. The peak usage of comparison in this particular sense dates back to when ancient humans considered the "arc" to be the ultimate boundary of the universe that was understandable to them. This arc is subject to inquiry by all peoples.

For example, the Greeks call it "archetype" and the Iranians call it "throne" or more precisely "arz". It should be added that this matter quickly became psychological, so that in Greece, the basis of imagined archetypes was thought to establish the fundamental structure of human consciousness, and in Iran, the basis of evaluating everything that existed in Giti and appeared in Mino.

It wasn't long before all beings became subject to scales, from the macrocosm of the universe to the microcosm of humans, to the point where comparison was considered a logical verb, a means of reasoning! In other words, ancient humans thought that limiting phenomena with a specific scale would make them meaningful! So, his goal was to explore limits by limiting all unbounded phenomena. His approach was both macro and micro. And it should be noted that the direction in this process was not important; whether it was for the purpose of impression and humanizing a cosmic matter, or for the purpose of expressing and cosmicizing a human matter, the process of limiting with a scale was to make it meaningful. It is noteworthy that ancient humans carried out this process primarily on two phenomena: time and space, which were the intermediaries between the cosmos and humans, and through which the two approaches of macro and micro converged. If we return to the two peoples we chose as examples, it should be noted that among the ancient Greeks, the beginning of existence was based on chaos and disorder until existence was established on Kyros and continued with Chronos. The meaning of both of these is time; Kyros meaning instant, and Chronos meaning the extension of time based on a certain instant. The Greeks called this type of existence "cosmos" more precisely "chaosmos", which means either disorder or in other words, limitation. The main point is that among the ancient Greeks, existence only made sense if it was limited. Anyone who does not understand the concept of existence without limitation is unable to comprehend it, and with regard to the main subject of this important writing, the determining factor of the desired scale boundaries is the nature of time. The view of ancient Iranians towards existence is more comprehensive. From their perspective, the pre-existence universe has three fundamental characteristics: infinite time, infinite space, and pervasive light. And this is while after its emergence, three fundamental characteristics can be listed for the universe: limited time, limited space, and pervasive air. The main point is that among ancient Iranians as well, existence only makes sense if it is limited. Anyone who does not understand the concept of existence without limitation is unable to comprehend it, and with regard to the main subject of this important writing, the determining factor of the desired scale boundaries is the nature of time and space.

In continuation, it was said that ancient humans used the process of "scaling down to conceptualize" through "reasoning", and above all, they focused on the two phenomena of time and space because they were the intermediaries between the universe and humans, and through them, the intersection of macro and micro approaches was possible. It goes without saying that these two were the basis of the fourth dimension, and the ultimate goal of limiting them was essentially an attempt to understand them. Ancient humans, on the one hand, understood their own three-dimensional dimensions and, on the other hand, the three-dimensional dimensions of a limited range of the universe that appeared comprehensible to them through their senses. Now, they were seeking to move from themselves towards the universe and vice versa, and this was the assumed dimension, i.e., the fourth dimension, which was only intelligible through the mentioned process of scaling down. It was from this point that in a short time, all beings became subject to these two boundaries of existence, from the macrocosm, namely the universe, to the microcosm, namely humans, and were constantly being compared, to the extent that comparison was considered a logical verb and a means of reasoning! But it is worth noting that this process of scaling down cannot be considered a logical verb fundamentally, nor can it be said that this process leads to reasoning based on any philosophical criterion. It is important to note that time and space have a pre-existing status even in relation to earlier logical entities, meaning that humans have preconceived notions of time and space prior to any logical activity, which have no relation to reasoning. The essence of this is that the thought process of ancient humans was incorrect, and the aforementioned process of scaling down does not lead to reasoning fundamentally. In between, it can be presumed that the purpose of ancient humans from this process was not reasoning but "imagination". That is, they may have only imagined moving from macrocosm to microcosm and vice versa. Unfortunately, this assumption is also incorrect: the prerequisite for the correctness of this assumption is the possibility of imagining infinite time and space, while most philosophers agree that this level of infiniteness goes beyond our imagination and goes beyond the limits of our imagination. Therefore, "scaling down to conceptualize" does not lead to reasoning or imagination. And this means that scaling down to a specific scale does not fundamentally lead to understanding; whether it is limited or unlimited, it has no relation to understanding or not understanding, or to being limited or unlimited. Humans and the universe can only be imagined together in a state of absolute incomprehension. Of course, it is possible to depict certain forms of them at a scale that is not an extreme contraction or expansion using techniques such as photomontage, even if only in the form of works of art. Just as a video of the back-and-forth movement between the two in the fourth dimension can be created, and one can sit in amazement watching it. It is worth noting that the word "video" in the text means "I saw", and how strange that the more accurate word "idos" also means the same thing. Even more strange is that ancient Greeks called humans "anthropos," meaning a being that is not content with just seeing but also compares the things it has seen with one another, meaning it takes measurements, meaning it compares based on a specific scale!

"At the end, it was said that ancient humans, with a strange enthusiasm and excitement, made all beings within the two boundaries of existence, from the macrocosm or universe to the microcosm or human, subject to scales and continuously compared them, so much so that they were called "anthropos" - a creature that does not settle for simply seeing, but compares what it sees with each other. However, this process does not lead to reason or imagination, and limiting oneself to a scale does not essentially mean defining. So, it is now appropriate to ask ourselves why our ancestors had such a strong inclination towards this incomplete process. It should be noted that ancient humans did not suffice with their animal and natural existence, because compared to other beings, they found themselves lower. Therefore, they detached themselves from nature in order to surpass it, but they never achieved this desire. They cut off their navel string from the biosphere and were left lost in their own created semiosphere. Now their only consolation is culture, which they call their own, and which they place against nature. Their only tool in creating culture is language, and through it, they try to make sense of everything in their narratives. In these narratives, they try to compensate for their alienation from everything and simulate everything in order to forget their similarity to other creatures. In other words, a human being who did not settle for the biological knowledge of nature and cut off their navel string from the biosphere was finding natural phenomena meaningless through a knowledge based on language. They tried to make each of these phenomena meaningful through creating narratives, based on the scales they constructed, in order to present themselves as superior to others, since they had previously discovered their fundamental weakness through comparison. However, they were unaware that through this process, they were essentially distinguishing themselves from living beings and separating themselves from the organism that was a part of their nature. In exploring the supernatural nature of their organic identity or their alignment with nature in the form of a large, universal organism, they lost their place and position in the chain of life, and without realizing it, they gradually became embroiled in an identity crisis. And now, we are the inheritors of this fundamental crisis from our ancestors. Ancestors who did not settle for the three-dimensional dimensions of nature and, by striving to move from themselves to the universe and vice versa through the creation of fake scales by limiting time and space, rushed to create their own semiosphere. However, if they had looked into the details of their biosphere, they would have found that humans themselves are a part of the universe that constantly revolves around them, and that there is no need for us to revolve. As observers, all we have to do is choose our own perspective and horizon, establish our own installation or personal arrangement, and define our own existence in its totality. In short, contemporary humans, who have reached the incompleteness of ancient humans, are now at a fundamental crossroads: either they must suspend all scales or they must suspend themselves!"