Analogue Arabesque

The project is an attempt through motion and light to physically represent the drawing processes of Islamic Geometric Patterns - loosely referred to as Arabesque. The work further poses the question of how could we represent this historic format using early 21 century mediums?

Traditionally, one way of generating arabesque patterns is through drawing inter-crossing circles arranged systematically on a surface expanse. Lines connecting the circle centres, tangents and intersections, are then drawn - forming the basis of an endless array of intricate patterns. 

The pattern board of this work consists of 294 ‘arabesque plates’ overlapping to form what appears to be an incoherent composition.  Each plate is connected to its own motor and through constructive fast rotation, the simple circular roots of the complex patterns suddenly appear - creating an altogether new mode of representation.  Visual antonyms (simple/complex, ordered/chaotic, dark/light), which are sometimes at opposite ends of long graphical processes are brought closer to each other before the viewers. 

All motors in the installation are connected to a single Arduino micro-controller board, and each motor can be addressed individually. The rotations are activated through sensors detecting surrounding people.  When viewers approach the installation, the patterns closest to them start rotating, which in turn engages participants in demonstrating the concept underlying the work at the point closest to them.

(The dynamic patterns generated by the installation were almost impossible to capture on video due to the cameraframe-count. The video link shows the general installation setup and the plate mass rotations.)

Commissioned Work

Abu Dhabi Music and Art Foundation