The wall #7 2010

Curator: Looking at Abbas Kiarostami's "The Wall #7" from 2010, one is immediately struck by the juxtaposition of the organic and the industrial. What are your initial thoughts? Editor: Hauntingly beautiful decay. That mottled wall feels like an old soul, weathered and wise. The rusty pipe jutting out—it’s like a clumsy intervention, an awkward guest at a very private communion between time and texture. Curator: Indeed. The composition invites contemplation on the interplay between human intervention and the relentless forces of nature. Kiarostami, known for his films, frequently explores similar themes in his photographic work, focusing on the subtle poetics of everyday landscapes. This piece seems to exist in that interstitial space between painting and photography. Editor: Absolutely. It's as if he’s peeling back layers, showing us how even concrete yields to nature's persistent caress. The flaking paint almost mimics a cloudy sky or an eroded coastline—that mirroring feels incredibly potent, like the wall itself is dreaming. Curator: Consider the use of line here—the stark horizontal and vertical lines of the pipe cutting through the organic, almost painterly textures of the wall. This creates a visual tension, a sort of push and pull that invigorates the surface. The very matter suggests environmental concerns... Editor: Yes, those invading verticals! They almost read like a plea for awareness, shouting amid the quiet murmur of nature's re-assertion of itself, and yet I cannot turn away from what time will soon swallow... Curator: Precisely. The effect is quite arresting. It seems Kiarostami masterfully utilizes the elements of mixed-media to construct an argument regarding the encroachment of civilization onto nature. Editor: It leaves you wondering, doesn't it, about all the stories etched into that wall, stories the pipe has inadvertently interrupted, or perhaps become a part of, forever altering their telling. The muted blues and greens, juxtaposed against the dull industrial elements—it evokes such a sense of melancholy. Curator: In conclusion, it demonstrates the ability of simple form to stimulate much deeper feelings—something the best art attempts and some rarely accomplish. Editor: And in this quiet composition Kiarostami delivers just that—a profound observation on what remains after our echoes have dissipated into nature.