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Art Engine

In his artistic recycling, Jazeh Tabatabai is building and unraveling mysteries

“I won’t talk to you for an interview. Don’t switch your tape recorder on. You may come in, take a look around and take photographs. We might even have a chat, but no interviews.” That is how Jazeh Tabatabai made himself clear upon our arrival at his residence in Tehran. So we walked into what you may call a studio or workshop. After a few minutes, the conversation softened up, and so did Jazeh. He started talking, not at all minding the running tape recorder in my hands. In fact, the irony of his reluctance at the beginning and his enthusiasm at the end of our meeting was also obvious in his art: iron sculptures crafted in delicacy, steel scraps put together with maximum meticulosity. “I have been giving interviews for several years. Now it’s overkill. Still, many questions are yet to be asked. Take a look around, see for yourself, talk to me and go write your own story. A creation is worthy; a repetition is worthless.”
Jazeh Tabatabai is a sculptor, painter and author. But don’t take him as your classical artist. He may hold a brush, a pen, or a welder. Given his kind of work, his studio bears more resemblance to an auto parts stockpile than an art room. Crankshafts, camshafts, piston rods, coil springs, valves, gears, cylinders, and suddenly, sculptures. In other words, he brings art out of wrecks and scraps. Finally, here is “art recycled”. Jazeh Tabatabai’s workshop is where the second life of an engine starts. Wrecks of the very first automobile you ever drove may be among his sculptures. Artfully put together are crankshafts for legs, camshafts for arms, coil springs for necks, valves for temples, cylinders for chest, nuts and bolts for joints and bicycle chains for hair. Although made of steel, they do not stand still. Necks joggle, arms vibrate, and heads nod to you. Most themes of Tabatabai’s elaborate sculptures are man, woman, ostrich, horse and lion while birds are constantly seen in paintings. Call it self-expression in the machine age or innovation in an idiosyncratic form. There is no doubt that many may find his interpretations too personal and enigmatic.
“I didn’t have much encouragement when I started this. But I have always preferred something new. In any art, being creative is what matters. After all these years, I am certain that I am not a follower in art. I’m always in search of new concepts. The day I stop searching is the day I die.” Then he mocks, “Thank God I’m not a politician!”
Jazeh Tabatabai was only a teenager when he launched his own bilingual publication. In 1957, he opened the Iran Modern Art Gallery, the country’s first. He has since held several exhibitions of his work across Europe. He has now based his activities mainly in Spain. “That is where the East and West that I was looking for have come together,” he explains and continues, “We cannot live as islands. Somehow, all of us are linked to each other. Therefore, an artist should not be bound to a single spot. One who thinks small cannot be referred to as an artist. An artist must have a global message. Genuine art is not limited to a narrow group. Furthermore, it hardly expires.”
He finally concludes, “An artist must discuss pains and dilemmas that all human beings are exposed to. Otherwise, there will no longer remain a difference between art and making handicrafts. An artist is expected to have a certain goal. He must know what he wants and why he wants it.”
Jazeh insisted that an interview would ruin the whole thing. His creative character required us to avoid another Q&A cliché. “Innovate your own piece. Be creative,” he encouraged. Well, this is our creation. And his voice keeps echoing, “Still, many questions are yet to be asked.”