LATENCY, LIGHT, AND VOID: KEY CONCEPTS IN CONTEMPORARY ISLAMIC ART

Abstract

Islamic art expresses both visual and conceptual elements. It is based on philosophical ideas stemming from traditional Islamic philosophy and religious thought. This study investigates these ideas and exemplifies them further as visual and material concepts. As this is a practice-based study, it is essential to explore the inherent concepts within Islamic art and map them within my own practice which contains both visual and conceptual elements. The body of works that constitutes the practice component of this PhD are mainly made from ceramic materials and manifested as large-scale immersive and spatial installations.

Since the nineteenth century, Islamic art has been approached and studied from different angles without deeper investigation of its philosophical meanings. In fact, it was primarily explored through its historical context or examined in terms of its material and decorative qualities. This led to a very generalized understanding of traditional Islamic art and affected the creation of new contemporary Islamic artworks. As a result, contemporary artists have distinguished two separate approaches when working with Islamic art. They either use its established visual elements like Shirazeh Houshiary or express its conceptual foregrounding like Idris Khan. I am proposing that both components should be included within the production of new works of contemporary Islamic art. I suggest that by the detailed examination of the conceptual ideas prevalent in Islamic philosophy which greatly influenced the visual manifestation of Islamic art from the tenth to the fourteenth centuries, we shall be able to deconstruct and understand the embedded meaning in Islamic art and use these concepts to create new forms of Islamic art. Indeed, as contemporary artists today continually create works which are inspired by Islamic art, it becomes more important to bridge between the past and the present for a true continuation of the Islamic heritage and its manifestation in art practices.

I investigate and contextualize in this thesis philosophical concepts that I believe have influenced Islamic art over the centuries and resonate considerably in the construct of contemporary Islamic art. These concepts were for the most part used during the formative period of Islamic art and were discussed by different schools of philosophy. The three concepts examined here are the concept of geometry which reflects latency, the concept of light which reflects nur or illumination, and the concept of space which reflects void. I shall then explore each concept through my practice in an outcome of an artistic installation piece as its main theme. I shall conclude with how these conceptual findings are manifested in the artworks of selected contemporary artists from the MENA region.