Babak Saed

(Iran / Germany) *1965 in Mashhad, Iran

In his prize-winning work, the German-Iranian concept artist Babak Saed deals with the general theme of communication. For this, he uses the medium of language, placing written characters in the public space, or creating sequences of letters in prints, videos and audio installations. The letters are always written in capitals, mostly arranged without spaces or punctuation. This unusual method of presentation demands of the observer an intensive and attentive engagement with the written word, a letter-by-letter process of assimilation. A casual reading in passing by is thus thwarted, in favour of both a playful and concentrated approach to their critical or thought-provoking messages. In “Blickachsen 11”, the hand-blown neon glass letters “ICHERINNEREMICH---NICHT” (IREMEMBER---NOT) have been installed in the entrance to the Bad Homburg casino, whereby the offset word “NICHT” is only intermittently lit up. In the process, transitions between remembering and forgetting, and other, entirely individual, spaces for thought, are opened up. The interactively designed work is completed in the observer’s dialogue with it, and with himself.