Opening on 1st January 2021
On view until 18th January 2021

In his book, The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburg, argues that in modern suburban societies, time is primarily spent in three realms; first (home), second (workplace), and third inclusively sociable places, and he suggests that the balance between these three spaces can shape a healthy existence.
The accentuated contrast between these spaces in our lives in Iran, particularly concerning identity- besides the general sense of alienation from public spaces- has given more importance to private spaces, particularly in our homes. Many lived experiences supposed to happen in public places are brought into the houses, and public and private life are intertwined. The home, which identifies as a private space for tranquility and rest, has been turned into a hybrid mixture of home-restaurant, home-cinema, home-office, home-studio, etc. Home is everywhere. It is both living spaces as well as a workplace. A place for recreational activities as well as social deliberations.
Dis-Orientation is an interpretation of my personal and public life in Tehran today. I frequently face new conditions and circumstances in a city in its streets and alleys. My home keeps changing, too, a change I bring in from the outside. Unsustainability and constant change in spaces change my home’s identity according to everyday lived experience. A four-walled place that is an agglomeration of different living domains.
All these photographs were taken in my home. In these 35 frames, I aim to show my different facades and the shapelessness of my home. My home is not recognizable; Where is this place? A bright home with shining lights? Or a damp, fogbound cubicle?
Raoof Dashti