GHAZALEH AVARZAMANI

Game of Goose
Embroidery on Loofah
Framed 80x96.5 in. (203x245 cm)
2016

Noble Game of The Swan
Embroidery on Loofah
Framed 55x70 in. (140x178 cm)
2023

The Noble Game of Elephant and Castle or Travelling in Asia
Embroidery on Loofah
Framed 60x70 in. (152x178 cm)
2023

These games look at board games as master plans. Space tracks that comprises the textile map is based on the oldest existing printed game sheets, which played upon medieval spiritualism, values and superstition to educate the player in matters of moral, social and religious import. In this work, the entire game sheet is embroidered onto a grid of 180 dark blue kisseh (a Middle Eastern scrubbing washcloth), revealing a blueprint for the architecture of modern games. Used as a surface for inscription, the kisseh quietly undermines the ambition of the game itself. As objects meant to clean and remove impurities, the blue loofahs reassert the inherent instability of structures of power.