Wednesday, November 3, 2021

Tanaz Modabber, Other Scales of Prosody, Bombdiabooks, Berlin, Germany, 2017, ed. 500


Tanaz Modabber is an Iranian artist and architect living in Berlin. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a BA in Landscape Architecture and an MA in Architecture. Her practice is involved with site-specific installations, intimate studio works, and architecture projects that have been influenced by her training in both Western and Persian classical music. [from introduction]

The definition of 'prosody' is the patterns of rhythm and sound used in poetry, and the patterns of stress and intonation in a language. Presumably this also includes music as well!

This publication also includes a 5 page double-sided accordion with a text by Cassandra Edlefsen Lasch titled "Meter As Meter As," that explores in greater depth Modabber's artistic practice.

The front side of this accordion is really a historical overview of Persian music, instruments, composition and features images and writings exploring this theme. The reverse side of this features a scroll-like drawing that "considers the principles of Persian classical music, such as cyclicality, continuity, rhythmic structure, and improvisation. This homonymous publication has been compiled through multiple stages of translation, from a geometric foldable structure, over mapping and transcription, to a sound composition." [artists' statement]

This brief introduction to this quite complex accordion really does not do justice to what Modabber is attempting to do here, and it can only serve to give a glimpse of the rich history that Modabber is documenting here. 

44 double-sided pages, individual pages 9" x 7" and when fully opened 25' 8".

accordion with cover






reverse side



statement about the publication


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