Collaboration between Azin Seraj and Ali Dadgar at Martina  Johnston Gallery, Berkeley, U.S.

Realized Phantoms, an interactive video piece is created in collaborative efforts of Azin Seraj and Ali Dadgar. In this work, which is created from iconic footage of historical events, the viewer literally becomes part of the work; a monitor opposite the main screen shows the viewers as a participant in these historical moments. But at the same time the footage is digitally dissolving into the colorful abstractions while the audio melodically morphs the images together and sets up a hypnotic and meditative environment. Artmaking has been described as the sublimation of messy and overwhelming emotion into an object of aesthetic beauty. But watching this process happen before our eyes, and to literally become a part of it, forces us to confront the ethically troublesome relationship between the work of the artist and the struggle for political freedom.

February 12th, 2011 to March 27th, 2011
Reception: Saturday, February 12th, 2011, 4 to 8 p.m.
Hours: Sundays 1 to 4 p.m. or by appointment