The Weight of Distanced Objects delves into the collection of cataloged artifacts at the Oriental Institute of University of Chicago comprising approximately 350,000 objects from Egypt, Persia, Mesopotamia, Syria, and the Levant.
Made from limestone, the series replicates remnants of excavations from the ruins of Persepolis, held at the institute. Accompanied by its corresponding image, retrieved from the catalogue records, each object is wrapped in newspaper, mimicking the hasty handling of looted artifacts. The cropped-out transferred images of these fragments on parchment evoke the disappeared undertext and mnemonic traits of the archival and the archaic—the goat skin is used as a material reference to the use of palimpsest as an ancient method of re-inscription. The detachment of distanced objects from their context in the collection is paired with recurring newspaper headlines, chronicling the plight of 52 Americans held hostage by Iranian students at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran between 1979 and 1981.
More than three decades after the return of the American hostages to the U.S., legal battles have arisen over the pursuit of compensation through the seizure of Iranian assets, among which the collection of Iranian heritage objects was partially at stake. The works shed light on the legal disputes in which victims sought retribution through the proceeds from the sale of Iranian antiquities held at the institute, a case ultimately ruled against by the U.S. Supreme Court in February 2018.
