Preface

Fluid Dream is the title of my undergraduate thesis project at the Isfahan University of Art. The main part of the project consisted of wooden sculptures accompanied by a text and a series of photographs, named Slumbered Nature. During the creation process of these works, I endeavored to establish a sensory connection with various types of wood and achieve the desired form by considering the visual characteristics of each type of wood and utilizing the tactile experience. Therefore, I refrained from using any electric tools and made some of the other tools, either entirely or partially, myself over a period. These tools were considered as artworks in their own right, beyond their practical use. Additionally, I aimed to focus more on the mediating role of tools in my artistic process.

At that time, the faculty required students to submit a report of their project execution along with some process photographs as part of their thesis. Since I did not find such a report to be aligned with the approach of my project, I began writing a different kind of text. The structure I conceived was a combination of daily notes and quotations from my studies during that period. The rule for the text was that it should be written sequentially without any arrangement of the sentences. Therefore, the daily notes, quotations, and discussions about them were written continuously without categorization into a single body. As a result, there are thematic jumps in the text. The intention was not to write a theoretical or literary text. Thus, Fluid Dream for me was an effort to create a connection between writing and artistic work.

Upon the completion of the thesis, I realized that the text itself could function independently. For this reason, I consciously refrained from presenting images of the artworks here. The photo series Slumbered Nature was presented in the thesis exhibition as an artist’s book. Some of the photos from this series are included at the end of the first chapter.

This volume also includes excerpts from two sets of correspondence that predate the main text, as a source of inspiration. In the fourth chapter, selected sentences by some readers of Fluid Dream, provided to me over the years since its creation, are compiled into two tables. In the new edition, in addition to literary corrections, some sentences have been edited for better readability. Overall, I have tried to preserve the tone of the text, which reflects my writing style at that time.