Residency Prize Exhibition

Residency Prize 2024

Nazanin Hafez, born in 1991 in Shiraz, Iran, is a visual artist living in Germany. She received her B.A. in Media Art and Design from the Saar Academy of Fine Arts in 2022 and her diploma in Fine Arts from the Mainz University of Art in 2024. In her artistic work, she critically examines social and political grievances, especially the effects of the repressive regime in Iran. She uses various media, from photography and collage to video and installation.

Nowadays, no one is really alone in their own four walls, even at night, as digital media immerse people in a virtual world and are constant companions. Excessive use of technology leads to less time spent with other people and thus less social interaction. Social media gives people the illusion of being loved, spoken to and entertained. They are given feelings of security, social connection and community, while in reality they experience a silent loneliness. With the advent of the age of artificial intelligence, this contradiction seems even more grotesque: people share their most intimate feelings with machines because they cannot find anyone to talk to in real life. On the other hand, the constant distraction from screens means that people lose the ability to actively experience the moments of silence, solitude and doing nothing, which are just as important for mental well-being. Silence has become unbearable for them because it reveals their true existence. In the photo series »Discrete«, people are photographed in their private atmosphere, with the lighting coming exclusively from the screens of digital devices. »Discrete« is intended to depict the loneliness of people in the light of digital media, especially with regard to a future with ‘intelligent machines’.

Nazanin Hafez