Mitra Tabrizian, 'The Perfect Crime'
The Perfect Crime concentrates on the notion of violence as a reality of every day life - & people's 'indifference'! Reminiscent of stills from crime movies, the work focuses on the moment before or after the crime, yet leaving the event outside of the frame. What the photographs portray then are people's reactions to the event. However, unlike those film stills where you see some expressions of surprise, shock or horror, the character's in "The Perfect Crime', for most parts, indicate 'indifference'; a deadpan expression similar to those of the characters in the movies of Japanese director, Takeshi Kitano - whether they are victim/victimiser/witness.
In a society over - saturated with violence, where we've become immune to it, the title 'The Perfect Crime' is used as an irony to refer not to the crime as such, but to our reaction to it. Or, rather, the crime becomes 'perfect' when no one cares. So violence goes on, 'unnoticed'!
Takeshi pushes the notion of violence beyond its limits; the main character (often played by himself) ultimately doesn't care if he kills or is killed: he loses the 'plot' - a deliberate strategy to show violence as 'illogical'. The work presented here deviates from this concept when it comes to victimisation. Those subjected to violence cannot remain indifferent However, in those images in which the characters may express fear or anxiety, the text upsets the usual reading of the victim & victimiser. Rather, framed within wider concepts of racial or sexual violence, the work poses the question of the unconscious 'threat' - i.e. who is the real threat in these unsettling stories?
The text could be interpreted as both the title of a fictional film & as a clue, 'hidden' in the image. In either case it hints at a more unusual interpretation of the implied narrative.
'Lost Station' or ' End Zone', for example, the former portrays a white gang, waiting - & the latter a black gang walking to a supposed destination. Both titles indicate the aimlessness of the action & thus the absurdity of the gang war.
All the characters are in suits. At a metaphorical level, the work can also be read as a reference to 'corporate violence'. 'The Adjusters', for instance, are prepared to 'close the deal' at any costs, a commentary on the present 'ethos': business has to succeed regardless of the circumstances - & any one is dispensable!
But, unlike the corporate life of apparent luxury, comfort & desirability, the city in 'The Perfect Crime' signifies, discomfort, undesirability, in a sense unwanted spaces, where no one wants to be. The characters are 'placed' in spaces they don't want to be. The dark side of the city, echoing the darker side of their 'corporate dreams'.