ZOË LESCAZE FOR ARTNEWS
The Armory Show opened Wednesday afternoon at Piers 92 and 94 on the far west side of Manhattan. It’s a tricky spot to navigate under ideal circumstances, but if you think it’s tough working your way through the crowds of collectors drifting like well-dressed zombies up and down the aisles of the fair on foot, try it on a flying carpet. “I’m enjoying the challenge,” said Darvish Fakhr, who was serenely weaving through the Armory Show’s VIP preview on an elevated, discretely motorized skateboard of sorts. The fringe hanging from either end of the red patterned rug swayed lightly in the breeze as he drifted around the pier, occasionally pausing his ride by putting a toe on the ground.
The piece, he said, was born out of “recent explorations in movement work” as well as the desire to “deconstruct” his mixed heritage. “I am half American, half Iranian,” he said. “In America, I ride skateboards, and I am an Iranian named Darvish. What am I to do with that?” Fakhr calls the piece The Whirring Darvish, and is presenting it in conjunction with Edge of Arabia, an arts organization participating in Armory Focus: Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean.
We let him lift off and watched as people tripped trying to take out their cell phones in time to snap a slack-jawed photo. He was glad, he said, to bring a little “lightness” to the fair.
For more Armory Week coverage, go here.