Jafar is an Architect, and an installation designer currently based in Amman, Jordan. With interests in ephemeral structures, unconventional architecture, topics around Individuality in social settings, connections with materials and objects, the meaning of temporality and understanding the public and private space.
Jafar currently works at ARINI, a research based design studio in Amman and is currently curating the craft district for Amman Design Week 2019.
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This installation focuses on the element of time and memory, by exploring the idea of temporality in the form of a short life span.
The piece which is based on a childhood memory uses nostalgic experiences to start a conversation and visualize our private individual relationships with the public spaces of the city.
The lentil Trails:
A common science class experiment used to teach children about sprouting. The process includes using seeds, a cotton pad, a plastic cup, water and sun, to simulate the life of a plant, using these tools teachers are able to limit the lifespan of the plant into approximately 10 to 20 days, which allows the child to create a temporary caring relationship with it.
Does this make the seed less valuable than others who grew in more common conditions?
Does temporality reduce an entities’ importance?
The installation:
Constructed out of wire-mesh, lentil seeds, cotton, and fabric, the temporary piece works as an added layer or a free standing structure placed in a public space to be observed.
Wire steel frames act as a structured grid representing the strict social rules placed on public spaces in Amman, and the seeds are stuffed in the cotton places behind the steel mesh. The ephemeral entity.
The installation process will begin by hanging the wireframe and handing seeds so people can plant them by hand. Which creates a special relationship and a sense of ownership between the public space users and the art Installation.
This piece works as a visual representation of an organisms ‘importance in the cities’ life, and the means we use to create comfort.
