Frictions
Erdem Taşdelen, 2024, 55 min

Followed by Q&A with the artist moderated by Siavash Minoukadeh

Frictions is a moving image work structured around twelve first-person narratives, each recounting a brief, disorienting encounter with a stranger. Written by the artist and narrated in voiceover by Canadian actor Ali Momen, these intimate monologues unfold against hazy, dreamlike visual sequences punctuated by interludes of ambient soundscapes. Inspired by dreams of social anxiety and discomfort, the film explores the psychological toll of living alongside strangers in an era marked by polarization, technologically-mediated hostility, and perpetual uncertainty about the future. Foregrounding the lived effects of collective psychological strain and ideological division, Frictions reflects the invisible but persistent stressors of contemporary life, and the tensions that emerge where private and public spheres intersect.