Event 3: Sholeh Asgary: Atmosphere of Sound

Visiting Sholeh Asgary: Atmosphere of Sound at the CNSI Art Sci Gallery was such a cool opportunity I got to do this quarter! The installation, Qanat, centered around a traditional Iranian rug, struck a powerful balance between cultural memory, sound, and light. A single pin spot beam lights up the central motif of the rug, symbolizing a fountain, while sounds of water play through the space. Hanging above, a pendulum microphone fed those sounds into a bass amplifier beneath the rug, creating a feedback loop that responded to both environmental sound and visitor presence.

My own photo!

This piece was powerful because it made the visitor part of the artwork. The rug wasn’t just symbolic; it helped carry and amplify the sound. Where I stood, sat, or lay down, my movements changed the sounds in the space. A similar piece that came to mind was Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Pulse Room, where the artwork responds to the viewer’s heartbeat, making their body an essential part of the installation. In Qanat, the viewer affects the sound by moving, changing how the space feels and sounds in real time.


Me!

There was also a video playing called Sholeh Asgary + the Ad Hoc Collective for Improvising Mourning Technologies for Future Griefs. In it, Asgary is shown placing a large black agricultural water tube into the sand of an industrial gravel lot and vocalizing laments directly into the Earth. What I heard coming through the speakers was the sound of sand from this staged desert scene. I had never seen anything like this before; it was fascinating to watch and read about. I recommend going and seeing this gallery!

My own photo!


Works Cited:

Asgary, Sholeh. Atmosphere of Sound. https://soundofatmosphere.com/artist/sholeh-asgary/. Accessed 1 June 2025.

Asgary, Sholeh. Sholeh Asgary | Artist. https://www.sholehasgary.com/. Accessed 1 June 2025.

Asgary, Sholeh. “Sholeh Asgary in UnTerminal.” Art Practice, University of California, Berkeley, 1 May 2021, https://art.berkeley.edu/news/sholeh-asgary-unterminal. Accessed 1 June 2025.


Asgary, Sholeh. Qanat. UCLA Art|Sci Center + Lab, 9 May 2025, https://artsci.ucla.edu/node/1787. Accessed 1 June 2025. 


Lozano-Hemmer, Rafael. Pulse Room. https://www.lozano-hemmer.com/pulse_room.php. Accessed 1 June 2025.

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