Collaborators and Participants Needed for Project "Visage" and Project "Numb-ess"
If you are interested in being part of the project, please reach out to me on instagram at momo.d.art, or directly email me at mostafaxteef@yahoo.com. to link you the instruction.
Read below, after the project description for quick instructions.
Dear Reader;
I am grateful to the Minnesota State Arts Board for awarding me the Minnesota State Art Grant for Individuals. This grant will support me for a year as I undertake these projects, which will serve as a pivotal step in my career, strengthen my artistic portfolio, and assist in my future applications to graduate school.
I invite anyone interested in contributing to this project to join as a collaborator or participant. My work explores pressing issues that affect us all, particularly in the midst of the challenges we face today. Your collaboration will strengthen my work, as the core purpose of this project is to give voice to the struggles within our society.
I will serve as a voice for those often silenced—whether due to political, societal, gender-related, or other forms of oppression that hinder individuals from fully being themselves.
In an increasingly individualistic world, I ask you to stand with me in fostering a more communal and engaged society—one that brings overlooked issues and misconceptions to light for all to see.
I sincerely thank you and hope you will reach out to be part of this project.
Sincerely,
Mo.
Project Visage - Video and Audio Experience.
As an immigrant, I have firsthand experience of the numerous challenges faced when trying to integrate into a Western society. These struggles are often overlooked or underestimated, from fitting into a society with different cultural norms to feeling alienated and displaced. Immigrants encounter hardships in pursuing careers and navigating societal structures. The Western society may lack the capacity to empathize with these difficulties most of the times, treating immigrants as equals without giving them space to adjust to cultural shock. This is particularly true for those from vastly different cultures.
The project highlights the concept of oppression and injustice, where the voiceless is thrown deep in the ocean, starring back at the viewer as they keep sinking further down eliminating who they are. At the end, they are just people, like many others, loosing the opportunity to voice ones own struggles, to state their journey and experience, as they disappear off from society.
Hologram Demo / Sample
In these videos, faces emerge only to gradually deteriorate and blend into a liquid substance background until they become unrecognizable. Metaphorically, these faces are tossed into the sea, sinking into the depths. Looking down from above, we see these faces gazing back from the abyss, dissolving, and vanishing into the vast emptiness until they lose all individuality. Eventually, they become mere indistinct figures without any clear definition or identity, a resemblance of a human, without a definite visual of who they are or how they loo like.
How to be a participant of this project?
If you're based in Minnesota, Philadelphia, or anywhere else in between (as I am currently traveling), please reach out to me first so we can arrange a time to meet in person. The entire process takes no more than 15 to 20 minutes. I will come to a location that works best for you—or wherever we agree upon.
During our time together, I will film a few simple shots of your face while we sit down over coffee or tea and talk about anything on your mind. Whether it is frustrations with society, personal thoughts, or just a casual conversation to get to know one another—it is completely up to you. If you would rather sit in silence, that’s perfectly okay too.
PS: We can also do this project remotley, but if so, please reach out so I can send you the step by step instruction on how to contribute from recording, to uploading the files and all the small details.
I humbly Thank you!
Why I am doing this project?
I believe we each evolve over time, as we grow older and deepen our understanding of ourselves, our surroundings, and the society we are part of. As an artist, This growth informs everything; our mindset, our physical presence, and especially the way we approach our creative journeys. For me, it has profoundly shifted how I think about art and my creative practice as a whole.
As I reflect on this journey, I cannot ignore the growing sense of distance and dissonance between people. More and more, I see a focus on values that erode our shared sense of morality, ethics, and community. In several of the communities I have been part of or encountered, I have noticed how they are slowly breaking down, giving way to a further rising culture of individualism.
I understand why life has become increasingly difficult, and many are simply trying to survive.
Yet now, more than ever, I believe in the need for community and sense of belonging and understanding. We need love. We need respect. And we need the willingness to truly listen to one another. We must create spaces where people can speak openly about their struggles, and to be heard, especially in a way that isn't capitalistic or media driven involved.
These two projects are a reflection of that belief. They are rooted in my own experiences as an immigrant and shaped by the many moments of hardship I have faced along the way. I know I am not alone. So many of us are carrying more than we are able to say out loud, and lately, that weight feels even heavier.
To me, art, in its most honest form, is an intellectual podium. It can be quiet or forceful, emotional or restrained. It takes on many shapes. But above all, it offers a space to speak, and more importantly, a space to be heard. That is the heart of this work: to create a space where people feel safe, seen, and heard, even if only by me, or by a smaller group of people.