ONE BOOK RESIDENCY VOL.1
Tasneem Lohani

6-10 JAN 2020
Walthamstow, London
organized by Magdalena Zoledz

The main goal of the ONE Book Residency is creating a calm, offline space for a particular period of time for artists who want to spend time solely on reading one philosophical book. We live in overwhelming times, full of distractions related to the constantly new content on the Internet and visual overflow everywhere. We know that the ability to be focused is more difficult than it has been ever before. We hope that the working space we provide will be helpful in creating a deeper relationship with the book. Invited artists don’t need to produce any artwork unless they decide that they want to. We believe simulating artists’ creativity by giving them the possibility of spending time with one book in isolated space, especially nowadays when time is so precious, is enough. The first invited by us artist is Tasneem Lahoni who decided to read “Nausea” for the 5 days.

As a result of the residency Tasneem Lohani created a project exhibited at Stanley Picker Gallery, Kingston University London, Kingston School of Art, Grange Road, Kingston upon Thames KT1 2QJ.
Read more about the event︎.

The organic sound of our voice, words turn into binary structures of computer code before they reach another person. The screen is competing to replace the face, the human and the organic. Maybe it’s our need to find structure through the unknown, maybe it’s our impatience and refusal to persevere in our own meandering abilities to connect with each other. Technology makes life easier, we know. But human beings are complex and demand time to comprehend. We are pressing to talk about the value of human connection, that, science says, guarantees a happier life. We are social beings who are losing our social skills in exchange for a technology tool. We don’t want to live alone and we certainly don’t want to die alone (Stanley Picker Gallery).

Tasneem Lohani (@tasneemlohanii_art) is an artist works with human interaction online such as text, voice, images, videos and GIFs. These mediums are capitalized by 'free' phone apps that promise us instantaneous responses feeding us the idea of a globally connected superfast utopia. The point we are at right now, seemingly online and available 24/7, raises questions of control, surveillance and decline in real-life human interactivity that is seriously affecting the Mental health of many. She works with the same mediums of voice recording, photography, video and GIF-making to understand their influence on the everyday human interaction online. She also makes ink and watercolour paintings and drawings on paper employing meditative mark-making. Exploring the psyche that is affected by the various obsessions of the post-internet world.