Portals are gold shipping containers with immersive audio and video technology inside. When you enter one, you come face-to-face with someone in the other container, full-body, and the two converse live as if in the same room. By conversing through a Portal, participants step out of their daily routines and their comfort zones. Away from the distraction of cell phones and their peers, people swiftly connect across distances, real and imagined. They share a quiet moment. In these encounters, people learn about the “other” and about their own values, beliefs, and assumptions.

SHARED_STUDIOS, founded by artist and journalist Amar Bakshi, is a multidisciplinary arts, design and technology collective focused on carving wormholes throughout the world. SHARED_STUDIOS grounds the connective potential of new technology in physical spaces to create more accessible, secure, and sacred encounters between diverse populations.

Venue: Sazmanab (Khaghani St.), Yale University Art Gallery [New Haven]
February 20 - March 1, 2015 – 4:30-8:30 PM (Tehran)
February 20 - March 1, 2015 – 8 AM - NOON (EST)