Orbits/Madaahra by Shaghayegh Cyrous & Finley+Muse with assistance from Laura Figa was a site-specific project for Jim Campbell’s Day For Night Canvas on the Salesforce Tower, was exhibited in October of 2021.
Orbits/Madaarha was “inspired by planetariums, proliferating communications networks, and linguistic confusions” and played on the Tower every night from Midnight to 1AM. “Each sequence embodies the humor and enigma of the full cinematic loop, which can be appreciated in both quick and extended viewing. Orbits/Madaarha explores the power and limits of language and the chaotic dynamics of our terrestrial journey.” This is a part of our monthly collaboration with local artists.
The description reads:
A marbled globe orbits the top of a tower. The globe collides with typewriter keys that are in turn chased by gesturing hands, tapping out letters in both Latin and Farsi alphabets. Glass dice roll into the mix, a few of them shattering. Alien flowers pursue the dice, which disintegrate only to reconstitute themselves later. The globe spins, then multiplies into dozens of heavenly bodies as their orbits devolve. These are some of the images that constitute the eleven-minute looped film Orbits/Madaarha, which will be shown on Jim Campbell’s “Day for Night” Salesforce Tower canvas in a new work by Shaghayegh Cyrous, Laura Figa, & Finley+Muse. Inspired by planetariums, proliferating communications networks, and linguistic confusions, the artists collaborated over a period of six months, experimenting with a variety of objects they filmed and animated in their Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and San Francisco studios.
Orbits/Madaarha is designed to be seen from any vantage point in the city and for any length of time. Each sequence embodies the humor and enigma of the full cinematic loop, which can be appreciated in both quick and extended viewing. Orbits/Madaarha explores the power and limits of language and the chaotic dynamics of our terrestrial journey.
Special thanks to Jim Campbell and Emma Estrebel for their support during the production of Orbits/Madaarha.