We are happy to publish the first report by Azize Ferizi @ze.ze__ with graphic design by @kim_coussee for nexpo! The artist visits a hairdresser in Pristina: LOOKING - COUNTING ON EACH BOBBY PIN n°1 My aunts and mother preparing for events were the first visible memory of how physical appearance can be a testament to effort. In this small room in Papaz, Kosovo, I learned how appearance can be a position depending on the context. As an introspective moment, I spent hours in front of my mirrors. I could easily lose track of how the final aesthetic would meld into near-perfection for hours. While many people focus on the outcome, we were formed via the process. All of these aesthetics advice and knowledge become expertise. It took me a long time to recognize some savoir-faire that isn't officially mentioned or recognized as such in western culture. No dictionary, no archives, no books, no internet were involved as tools in this process, only our bodies, practices and memory. Eastern cultures use a more direct semiotic approach to conveying images. What we consider as surcharged aesthetically in the Occident is a form of evidence in the Balkans, Every phrase conjures up an image. As immigrants, our concepts of aesthetics are more easily integrated into how images are perceived and passed down depending on culture. All of these photographs, which are circulated through advertisements for hair salons, garages, and wedding restaurants, constitute a limitless pond of resources that are never preserved but are supposed to be collected again. I had to go through this quest for all these lost treasures in the same way that I seek for bobby pins when I'm doing my hair; I know they're all over the home; all I had to do was jog my memory. These images are particles that are dispersed across our collective mind. The majority of these scattered images were created using magazines found in hair salons... Read on @nexpo_lanouvelleexpo insta profile or link in bio