Consumerism has altered the concept of happiness. It has constructed happiness within a specific frame of interpretation. Anything outside those frames mis excluded, because it disrupts the perfectly retouched consumeristic world. Anything considered to be non-happy will be excluded from the consumerist observer’s viewpoint.

As a result, trauma and everything that could upset happy consumerist values and systems constructed by our society are denied and replaced with brightly colored and retouched illusions of reality. Trauma is treated as something that should be hidden or re-framed, as opposed to an opportunity for self-revelation followed by a step toward healing.

In this installment of Projected, Armenian photographer Karen Khachaturov disrupts the impulse to close wounds with distractive filters and instead discovers the pain and opportunities for joy within his grandfather’s battle with cancer.

How to View

During the day, the installment can be viewed on monitors inside the ICP Museum and during evening hours, images are literally “projected” onto the windows of the ICP Museum; they can be viewed from the sidewalk outside the Museum and are most visible after sunset. Learn more about Projected.

About the Artist

Karen Khachaturov (b. 1992) started photographing in 2014. In 2015, he participated in the humanitarian project “Eyes of Culture” in Tbilisi and in 2016 Khachaturov had his first solo exhibition, Surreal Universe, at the Narekatsi Art Institute. His work has been exhibited at the Sargis Muradyan Gallery (Armenia) and the Hovnanian School (United States), among others and has appeared in the San Francisco Museum of Art blog and on the cover of VintEDGE magazine.