Fire Starter #2 - Kufi Square - Richard Azlan Abas

A six minute video.

November 2010.

Thank you to the Firestarter team for the invite and video!

Mounir fatmi Modern times Kufi squares buildings

2009-2010, videos, sound, saw blades in steel.

Exhibition view from Told, Untold, Retold, Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha

Les Temps Modernes, Une Histoire de la Machine I Modern Times, A History of the Machine

During a visit to the "told ,untold , retold" exhibition at the Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha I chanced upon an installation by Mounir Fatmi.

His images of a city skyline are projected on a wall. The buildings are outlined against a dark background. The buildings are Kufi squares!

This is a description of the installation from the artist website.

The exhibition runs from 30 Dec 2010 until 28 May 2011 at the exhibition hall , museum of islamic art grounds in Doha, Qatar.

Photography is not allowed in the exhibition and I have copied these images from the artist website.

http://www.mounirfatmi.com/2installation/moderntimes3.html

“Modern Times” envelops the viewer. In the middle of the room a sculptural ensemble forms a delicate yet menacing centrepiece. A series of circular band saws, displaying Arabic calligraphy, are suspended, reminiscent of a system of cogs or a gear mechanism. Images projected on the wall around the sculpture show architectural construction in the Middle East, creating an intense cinematic environment. The title of the piece “Modern Times” is inspired by Charlie Chaplin's celebrated 1936 film, in which Chaplin plays a lowly worker on a factory production line. The modernity of the factory's machines are visually characterised by a series of whirring cogs. Comic scenes show Chaplin being consumed by the machine; but these images suggest a darker side – the alienation of man in a modern industrialised society. The factory worker is swallowed up by the machine with which he can no longer keep up. In his “Modern Times”, mounir fatmi engages with this modernity, which began in the 19th century in the West. The speed of industrialisation and the growth of cities is reflected today in the rapid development and urbanisation of the Middle East. Cities are appearing out of the desert, with buildings thrown up so fast that there is no time to reflect on the changes. This mental link between Western industrialisation and recent Eastern development manifests itself in “Modern Times” in the interactions between the different elements of the installation. The cog-like circular blades are decorated with Arabic calligraphy, a recurring motif in mounir fatmi's work. In “Modern Times”, the calligraphy is cut out of the metal like a stencil, instead of being inscribed onto the blades. The negative space allows an interaction between the blades and projections and creates a layer of ambiguity, with the curves and arabesques of the calligraphy eclipsing the meaning of the words, as if the message were disappearing into the engine of the machine. The words are reanimated in a purely visual way as circular abstract forms, reflecting the circular motion of the installation. The circular forms are also a nod to modernist painters Sonia and Robert Delauney and Fernand Léger. The repetition of circular and geometric forms in their paintings were an attempt to depict the modern world, as mounir fatmi's installation is a way of grappling with the continuous and seemingly endless motion of 21st century production and consumption. Speed and motion both play an important role in “Modern Times”. As early Arab astronomers observed the movement of stars and planets, mounir fatmi observes the shape of today's world and the, often erratic, motion of global contemporary society. The dizzying effect of the installation also draws on the legacy of Marcel Duchamp and his “Rotoreliefs”. Duchamp's spinning circular optical illusions were amongst the first manifestations of kinetic art, produced in the context of a modern industrial society. Almost a century later “Modern Times” continues this exploration of movement in the modern world, with the added complexity of a global dimension and the dialogue between East and West. mounir fatmi's oeuvre has often displayed a fraught relationship to architecture, addressing the dystopic effects of the modernist experiment or arrogant contemporary displays of power and economic might. “Modern Times” explores architecture in the Middle East, raising the question of the human impact of this unrelenting construction machine. The artist is sympathetic to Chaplin's character, whose slapstick encounter with the factory machine suggests the human obstacle to a perfectly streamlined, mechanical production. mounir fatmi explains: “I want to be the product that the machine fails, otherwise one will think that the machine is perfect".

Hajj Certificate with Kufi Squares

Wow, no posts in 2010. Sorry, been busy!

During a recent visit to the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar I came across "hajj certificate"

The "Hajj Certificate" has kufi squares.

Given my interest in Kufi Squares and my work with Tabung Haji (Malaysian Hajj Pilgrimage Fund) it was a wonderful combination!

Algerian Dinar has Kufi Square!

During a recent trip to Algiers, Algeria , I changed some Euro for local Algerian Dinars.

Only after a few days did I notice that the currency note had Kufi Squares!

Algerian currency is not freely convertible and a black market above the official rate is about 20 to 30 %.

When you leave Algeria, you cannot exchange your Dinars back to foreign currency!

The Top Kufi Square reads "bank Algiers" and the bottom square reads "X00 Dinar"

This is the first time I know of any currency of any country having a Kufi Square!

Paint a tile

Our local primary school, where 4 of the Munchkin5 attended each for six years, had a Paint a tile fundraising day.

Students, alumni and teachers bought a six by six inch white tile for Rm10 each.

They provided special ceramic colour paints for us to draw anything we liked.

It was a real fun day.

I was so impressed by the creativity and artistry of many of the young kids. I hope they will retain these skills as they grow.

As a family we bought twenty tiles and each of the kids painted a pair. We decided to paint the Munchkin5 kufi square together with the legend / guide / translations.

Iran Flag has square kufic

The Flag of Iran has square kufic script.

From wikipedia:

"...writing on the borders between the white, and the green and red bands reading, Allahu Akbar ("God is great") in a stylized version of the Kufic script used for the Qur'an. There are 22 (2×11) copies of this inscription, symbolic of the 22nd day of the 11th month (Bahman) in the Persian calendar—the date of the Islamic revolution (22 Bahman 1357 = February 11, 1979) over the Pahlavi dynasty. The addition of this writing renders the flag non-reversible.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_flag


Source:
Flagspot.net

88 Jalan Perdana

Rushdan alerted me last week to a kufi brickwork at 88 Jalan Perdana. This is a building behind the Islamic Art Museum in Kuala Lumpur. The security guard told me that both buildings were owned by the same person.

It is made of rectangular marble slates. The slates have wavy grooves. I expect water pours down and creates an optical effect.