The New York-based artist Eric Parnes's recent work, "Custodian of Vacancy," captures what remains of the inner recesses of the Iranian embassy in Washington, DC, fabled for its sparkling parties and established wine cellar, promptly emptied when revolutionaries took over in 1979. Parnes tell IranWire:
On a personal and emotional level, having an Iranian background, I viewed the structure as something more than simply a literal space. Its abrupt closure in 1980 roughly coincided with my own birth, and there is something that has been calling me to attempt to seek answers about my own identity from within the confines of this almost mystical Persian modernist building. If I compare the space to a tomb, I think it would be fair to say that the virtual historical ghosts haunted me, and I subconsciously captured these dark feelings within the set of photographs. The photos themselves, which are dark, emotive, and yet cerebral, have been filtered through a graininess -- a conscious choice with the intent to further express the atmosphere within the confines. You have one chapter closing, represented by the ephemera scattered about, yet the space as seemingly barren as it is also signifies the period of revolutionary confusion and transformation.
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