K u r o s Z a h e d i - MAKING FINDING AWAY

WELCOME!

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:36:11 -0800

Below is an archive of the making of this project. One year of collected trash and recycling, transformed into a single work of art.

Finding Away in San Francisco

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:08:43 -0800

Finding Away will be in San Francisco in November! The five panels that make up the collage mural will be on the main stage. Ari Derfel and I will be speaking on the main stage at 4 PM on Sunday, November 15. We will also have a booth at the festival with information, images and video of the entire project. ...Hope you can join us if you are in the area.

Finding Away Video

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:45:40 -0800

This new video by Josh Bradley captures the essence of the whole project well.

And at long last....

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 09:19:57 -0800

Finding Away, installed at Bumbershoot 2009 in Seattle, Washington.

One year's worth of trash by Ari Derfel
Art work by Kuros Zahedi

photo by Lele Barnett

Show in Seattle!

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:17:50 -0800

This is the card for the Seattle showing of Finding Away..... It should be an amazing exhibit and will be opening September 4!

PRESS RELEASE

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 12:46:55 -0800

Please click here for the online press release for the Seattle, WA showing of Finding Away at Bumbershoot

The Project.

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 00:05:34 -0800

On December 29, 2007 only a handful of people knew about Ari Derfel’s project of saving every single piece of trash and recycling he produced for an entire year. On December 30th the San Francisco Chronicle printed a story about it on the cover of their Bay Area section. A few hours later the Associated Press picked it up and by that night a worldwide conversation had begun.

Within the first forty-eight hours 150,000 visited Ari’s blog. They asked questions, applauded his efforts, criticized him, called him names – and most of all – they engaged each other. Ari’s simple meditation became the subject of a global conversation about consumerism, waste, recycling, self-awareness, and our individual and collective impact on the earth.

Saving his trash and recycling for an entire year was a powerful experience:
“It gave me intimate, focused insight into aspects of myself I thought I had known, and allowed me to discover myself more deeply.”

Ari did not do it to make a public statement.

“I did it to challenge myself – to change unconscious habit patterns and behaviors. Saving my trash and recycling was an active way to observe closely what I ate, how I spent money, what I did with my time. It was a visual diary, an objective, material account of a year of life.”

Ari wanted to Find Away – the elusive place where we discard what we no longer think is useful. More than just trash and recycling, there are many things we discard in our lives without paying close attention – emotions, pain, relationships, jobs, family….

Ultimately, Ari wanted to Find A Way to grow, to evolve, to change habits that are self destructive and damaging to our planet and the people who inhabit it.

Now, nearly two years later, the evolving power of this project can be experienced through the remarkable work of Kuros Zahedi, the man who has transformed Ari Derfel’s year of trash and recycling into a visionary piece of art.

When Ari’s “waste” was handed over to Kuros, there were infinite possiblities and directions he could have gone. He lived with it for a long time, spoke with Ari, looked through every bit, counted it, weighed it, and thought. He wrote and sketched countless ideas. Ari and Kuros had agreed that every bit would be used - plastic wrappers, pounds of glass, old broken headphones, crumpled up aluminum foil and piles of paper - transforming this into a work of art presented a fascinating artistic challenge.

“As the material was prepared, it was clearly a window into the life of Ari as an individual personality, but then the paper, plastic, metal and glass also began to tell tales of their physical histories, revealing a complex nexus of civilization into which Ari, myself and everyone I know is knit. Where did this material come from? Where is it going? We normally designate trash as the lowest of low and throw it away, but Ari’s decision to find away for a whole year allowed me the opportunity to explore the powerful symbolism of turning it into a work of art.”

The trash was laboriously and totally transformed. It was crushed, cut, ground, pulped and reformed into a metaphoric narrative of our true potential. A host of human figures emerge from a menacing heap of trash, carrying armloads of waste to a dynamic and hopeful mural they are creating. They are humanity, working together, and Finding A Way to a beautiful world.

Moving onward!

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:23:54 -0800

(images by Steven Kennedy)

the center panel (still unfinished)

finding a way to a beautiful future

The River

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:30:27 -0800

This was shot during Ari's visit - I am working on the 'mural' part of the piece, pictured in an earlier post as a charcoal sketch on the panels. Thank you Josh for another amazing video!

Ari's Visit

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 12:44:03 -0800

Ari Derfel, THE MAN that made this project possible came to Bellingham! He is such an inspiring, true, visionary, witty and enthusiastic spirit. We had a great time working together, drinking wine, eating well, pondering the mysteries of the universe, and tossing stones on the beach. My good friend Caroline drove up from Seattle for an amazing work session. Josh filmed Ari and I philosophizing. Thanks to all three of you for a good and fruitful couple of days.
(photos in this post by Ari Derfel, Caroline Cumming and KZ)

The conspiring pair.

Unfinished ladders leaning on the unfinished mural.

Detail of a ladder showing the "Delta" logo from one of Ari's flight itineraries.

Pretty ground glass in Ari's hand.

A watercolor study which Ari found in the studio.

Checking out the progress.

The mural coming together (very slowly).

The paper / powdered glass figures are closer to completion.

Caroline with a new friend.