"It is a sort of a rite; the practice of cooking becomes something mystic, that goes beyond his purpose. Digital and organic, artificial and natural get merged together to deliver an experience that plays with senses we don’t normally use in this situation. It’s like we are “listening to the food”, and for the first time we see something so common and repetitive under a different perspective." Neoma magazine (ars electronica 2016 review)
"BOUNDARIES BLUR BETWEEN MATTER, SOUND AND WHAT WE PERCEIVE TO BE INANIMATE, AS VEGETABLES AND COOKING IMPLEMENTS COME ALIVE." THERESA HOWELL - THE SOURCE NEWSPAPER
"With an incredible capacity to understand that some of the most beautiful things in life are also the most simple, Navab fully embraces what others overlook. BELIEVING BUTTONS, GADGETS AND DIALS COME AT THE COST OF A CERTAIN LEVEL OF INESCAPABLE ARTIFICIALITY, HE INSTEAD WORKS TO EXPLORE WAYS TO CREATE ORGANIC INTERACTIONS BETWEEN PLAYER AND INSTRUMENT. WHETHER THAT INSTRUMENT IS A BALLOON, A HORSE’S SKULL, A CACTUS, OR AN EGGPLANT, HE BELIEVES SONIC BEAUTY IS THE DIRECT SUCCESSOR OF EMbodied intuition AND IMPROVISED Play." Katrina Jurjans- CUJAH Art Journal
"DID YOU SAY AROMAS? I’M THERE." MONTREAL GAZETTE
"Navab’s work, can turn something as unmusical as an eggplant into an evolving percussion instrument. THE objects transmutes itself depending how we touch it. It’s morphing underneath your fingers. And it’s that almost natural relationship between real-world objects and the program’s output that, when done right, makes augmented reality so, well, real." Colin Harris, Reality ++, The Link Newspaper "Navab’s synaesthetic, multisensory concert, which explores the musicalization and transmutative potential of the routine act of cooking, transforms, among other culinary fare and objects, an eggplant, a mortar and pestle, and sizzling hot oil into musical instruments, lending an otherworldly dimension to the otherwise prosaic act of preparing food." Katia Jean Paul, Art/Culture Blog
“UNDERLYING his ARRAY IMAGINATIVE CREATIONS IS A PLAYFUL AWARENESS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GESTURE, MATERIALITY, AND SOUND. BY ENCHANTING THE INHERENT PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS WE KNOW FROM EVERYDAY LIFE WITH POTENTIAL FOR PLAY, NAVID REACQUAINTS US WITH THE MAGIC AND WONDER OF OUR EMBODIED EXPERIENCE.” RACHEL ELLIOTT, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR CRITICAL STUDIES IN IMPROVISATION
"Ce ballet pluri-sensoriel est une invitation au questionnement du statut des éléments naturels dans nos pratiques quotidiennes et des nouvelles technologies dans le concept de création. Ainsi, Navid Navab invite l’auditoire à oublier sa propre expérience de la « cuisine » pour le guider vers une nouvelle trajectoire – en faisant l’emphase sur l’imperceptible devenu enfin palpable." Diane Martin-Graser, SMCQ's Musique Contemporaine Blog (musiquecontemporaine.wordpress.com)
