Mitra Tabrizian, 'Lost time'
After Japan's economic recession in the '80's when most of the smaller businesses went bankrupt, some business men would still put on their suits & leave the house in the morning, not telling their families what had happened to their business. Some never came back. They disappeared in the city. They blamed themselves for their 'failure'.
'Lost Time' portrays business men & women in their 40's & 50's, dressed for work (in their suits) yet appear in 'none-work' places (between 9am & 6pm). Like the Japanese business men who were unable to come to terms with the new condition, the characters in 'Lost Time' feel out of place, disoriented, not knowing what to do with themselves! Some refuse to leave the house, others are 'lost' in the city.
The project is a continuation of a critique on corporate culture. We are moving towards a time when more than ever the young (with their 'new' vision) are fetishised & the middle-aged are unwanted. They are increasingly encouraged to take an early retirement. Whereas in the past, the young had the look & the 'old' had the wisdom - now the former seems to own both!
So the work addresses the concept of ageism, by portraying the individual's sense of (pre-mature) inactivity, 'unwantedness' & ultimately 'failure', in a society where work & competition seems to over-power all other values. On another level, the work is an ironic commentary on the 'ethos' of the present time; once we are stripped of our corporate identity, what's left to hang on to!