Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9206-547X
Defense Date
2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Arts
Department
Dean's Office Qatar
First Advisor
Levi Hammett
Second Advisor
Mohammad Suleiman
Third Advisor
Giovanni Innella
Abstract
Principles of early Islamic art can be surveyed as a precursor to Western computational art. Though produced in different historical and cultural contexts, Islamic art and computational art are connected by underlying structures—arithmetic, harmony, and the concept of the Infinite.
Islamic developments in knowledge, like algebra, contributed to mathematics and mechanics—the building blocks of contemporary technology. Returning to Islam’s traditional harmony between religion and science, my creative practice constructs machines as an act of worship (ʿibadah), folding Islamic principles into the medium of computation.
Selected verses from the Quran are used as the core of each automaton (self-operating machine). Their computational cycles are transformed into mechanical movements, unfolding the meanings of each verse. The body of work presents an alternative perspective on our world’s invisible elements—inspiring moments of intentional presence and ponderment.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
5-10-2024
Included in
Arabic Language and Literature Commons, Art Practice Commons, Interdisciplinary Arts and Media Commons, Islamic World and Near East History Commons