Iranian graphic designer Maryam Khaleghi Yazdi’s Living in Between-Future (2019) is composed of a combination of 20 short animated gifs and static illustrations (numbered 1 through 20), which are projected in a grid on the wall. Each numbered image represents a different immigrant experience, and is individually labeled with brief descriptions of those experiences: “Take language test,” for instance, or “Marry,” or “Visa request rejected.”

“I came from Iran to the United States in 2016,” says Khaleghi Yazdi, an assistant professor of graphic design in the art and design department at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. “Exactly one year after that, President Trump signed an immigration executive order that named travel limitations for six different countries, including Iran. No one could come to the United States from Iran except students. It meant that I couldn’t go back to Iran as well because, if I wanted to do that, I needed to renew my visa.”

Her own experiences as an immigrant inspired the piece. “An immigrant’s situation is very vulnerable,” says the artist, who made the piece interactive to underscore the vicissitudes of the immigrant experience. “One small thing can completely change our future.”

Users scan QR codes on the wall with their cell phones to receive a series of random numbers (6, 12, 19, 2, and 11, for example) that correspond to the numbered images in the projection. These determine the trajectory of your immigrant experience. In the example provided, the experience is as follows: fall in love, forget migration, marry, have children, migrate elsewhere. That’s your fortune — or fate, if you will. A second go at it will yield a different outcome (there are 20 preprogrammed series of numbers accessible through 20 different QR codes). Some of the experiences are manageable and some are beyond the immigrant’s control. The element of chance is always a factor, highlighting the unpredictable nature of life for an immigrant. Center for Contemporary Arts