[IN]VISIBLE MEANING is a research-based artistic project initiated by Mansour Forouzesh in 2020, exploring how meaning is constructed, perceived, and interpreted within visual experience. At its core lies a dialogical process: a dynamic exchange between artist, artwork, and audience. Artistic communication, in this view, is neither linear nor singular, but shaped by a complex interplay of philosophical, psychological, and social forces. Meaning does not reside solely within the image, nor is it fully controlled by the artist; instead, it emerges in the relational space between these three elements, activated through the viewer’s engagement.

The project originates from a fundamental inquiry: How do we understand meaning? Is meaning grounded in transcendental truths, or does it arise through perception, context, and lived experience? Using photography as its primary medium, [IN]VISIBLE MEANING investigates how images—particularly those not constructed through conventional narrative strategies—can nevertheless evoke strong emotional and intellectual responses. Within this framework, photographs do not function as carriers of fixed messages, but as sites of projection, where memory, mood, and cultural conditioning converge.

Influenced by philosophical and poetic metaphors such as Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and Rumi’s parable of the elephant in the dark room, the project foregrounds perception as inherently partial and subjective. These narratives point to the fragmentary nature of seeing, suggesting that understanding is formed not through total vision but through the interpretation of incomplete and often ambiguous impressions. Similarly, in [IN]VISIBLE MEANING, each viewer assembles their own narrative, shaped by individual perspective, emotional state, and personal history.

A central concern of the project is therefore narrative, understood not as linear storytelling but as a structural and conceptual space—an interface between information and emotion. Visual composition operates as a form of silent rhetoric, binding the artist’s intention to the viewer’s interpretive act without dictating meaning. Within this space, narrative remains open, emergent, and contingent.

Rather than delivering didactic or resolved interpretations, [IN]VISIBLE MEANING presents open-ended visual encounters. Through interconnected photographic series, video works, and immersive installations, the project invites reflection on the conditions under which meaning is formed, rather than on any singular content. By encouraging viewers to pause, observe, and project their own associations, interpretation becomes a co-creative act.

Since its initiation in 2020, [IN]VISIBLE MEANING has been presented through multiple exhibitions and contexts, including solo exhibitions in Iran (2022) and Budapest (2023), as well as group exhibitions such as ABSENCE – PRESENCE at 2B Gallery, Budapest (2023) and SnapShot of a Question at Feszty Ház, Hungarian University of Fine Arts (2024), where the related work [NON]SENSE was exhibited. These presentations situate the project within diverse cultural and institutional frameworks, allowing its conceptual questions to be tested across different audiences and spatial conditions.

In parallel with its exhibition life, the project has been developed and articulated through academic collaborations and artistic research platforms, including participation in the Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) in Kraków, in collaboration with the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, HDK-Valand – Academy of Art and Design at the University of Gothenburg, and the Doctoral School of the Hungarian University of Fine Arts. These exchanges focused on contemporary artistic research methodologies and resulted in the publication Perception and (Re)Action (Budapest, 2024). Further academic engagement with the project has taken place at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts and the West University of Timișoara, where the work has contributed to discussions on metaphor, perception, and narrative in visual arts.

Ultimately, [IN]VISIBLE MEANING positions the artist as a facilitator of perception—one who does not impose meaning but constructs situations in which meaning may arise. Embracing ambiguity, uncertainty, and multiplicity, the project creates a space where the visible and invisible, the articulated and the unspoken, coexist. In doing so, it challenges viewers not only to look, but to reflect on how they see—and what they bring to the act of seeing itself.