In the preface of his book, The Origin of German Tragic Drama (1930), Benjamin states, “Ideas are to objects as constellations are to stars.” Stars are interconnected in the specific order of the cosmic world, while this order does not exist in the representation of constellations. When observing constellations, we do not gain any understanding of the objective relationship between stars, instead we only engage with the visual concept of the constellations. Ideas do not elucidate the laws governing objects, their meaning, or provide us with knowledge of any phenomena. Like constellations, ideas are timeless and can only be observed from a perspective and through the brilliance that meets the eye.
Babak Haghi’s images also challenge the relationship between idea and object, connecting us with something ambiguous and silent. Like a glass through which we see things but do not see the glass “itself”. We do not see “itself” admitting to a specific concept. We observe expressions of pain in silent faces, their fates unfulfilled without a word spoken. Faces bear the marks of burn while stuttering, not due to incompetence in expressing something, but because of experiencing pain; a stutter in an unknown language within a familiar language. It is as if faces experience stuttering and alienation within the most familiar aspects of life, within the body. The images do not attempt to represent the body and face; instead, they suspend the representation. The bare and empty-handed body is neither a thing among things offering us knowledge nor is it a tool for contemplating a transcendent matter. The naked and empty-handed body constantly refers to imprints that reveal elements of threat and insecurity. In many of Babak Haghi’s images, the bodies are depicted as being touched by other bodies or hands. It is as if the body is understood in two ways: as a toucher and as being touched. The situation is threatening and intensified as a hand intends to transfer sensory qualities while a body feels threatened by the touch of the hand on its skin, flesh, and bones. However, witnessing the act of touching is not a state of observing awareness about something. The origin of the intention behind the touch is beyond our grasp. The empty-handed body silently communicates beyond the realm of intention and materiality, simultaneously unsettling us. Since it never fully expresses itself, always leaving behind a stain, a remnant of itself, this kind ofstuttering, born out of threat and insecurity, also prevails within us.
Dr. Safa Sabti
Author and Researcher