Sophie SabetI Almost Didn’t Feel You Leave/We Forgot To Look

Roundtable discussion concluding the triple residency Imaginary documentary
May 30, 2019 from 5 to 7 p.m.

I Almost Didn’t Feel You Leave/We Forgot To Look is a multi-channel video installation that explores the desire for communication and compassion within the fragmented diasporic family. The installation consists of a compilation of vignettes that have been captured throughout 2018. The videos’ protagonist is Sabet’s father, who takes part in several experiments lead by the artist. Each video is an attempt to unpack the the weight of displacement left on conceptions of home and familial ties. In one of the video’s he moves sculptures out of their current rental home, objects that were originally transported from Iran when they first immigrated to Canada. In another set of videos, the artist and her father stand inches apart for prolonged amounts of time, together they endure the awkward discomfort of their proximity. Sabet continues to collaborate with her father even after he has moved back to Iran indefinitely. Despite physical distance, they communicated using smartphone videos, filming their lives and experiences in Toronto and Shiraz. Through this exercise they prompt each other to unveil spaces unfamiliar to one another but intrinsic to their own identities. They hoped to reveal new ways of understanding each other, yet, images can be misunderstood and overlooked just as words. The videos that make up I Almost didn’t Feel You Leave/We Forgot To Look capture intimate moments of transition between father and daughter as they negotiate and reflect on their complex relationship.