Abdullah M. I. Syed
Enmeshed Grey, 2013
etching embossed on Velin Arches 300gsm paper
47.5 x 47.5 cm
Edition of 10
As the geometer his mind applies, To square the circle, nor for all his wit, Finds the right formula, howe'er he tries ~ Dante, Paradise, Canto XXXIII At the core...
As the geometer his mind applies,
To square the circle, nor for all his wit,
Finds the right formula,
howe'er he tries
~ Dante, Paradise, Canto XXXIII
At the core of my trials and errors in art, itinerant life and diasporic identity is the impossible task of squaring the circle. Through an ongoing process of appropriating and deconstructing objects and symbols (the skull cap, the target, solar and lunar halos) these works explore this enmeshing task of squaring the circle, indirectly transferring its marks, first to an etching plate then onto paper. The outcome of images of light and dark is essentially unknowable, like halos in the sky, floating dots in eyes formed after a long glare at the sun and moon, blank spaces that define a pattern or punctured holes on a target surface. They have pure potential, appearing only when we give them our full concentration. A circle can be squared, and in this process of mediation and discovery, we are all inextricably enmeshed to its centre.
To square the circle, nor for all his wit,
Finds the right formula,
howe'er he tries
~ Dante, Paradise, Canto XXXIII
At the core of my trials and errors in art, itinerant life and diasporic identity is the impossible task of squaring the circle. Through an ongoing process of appropriating and deconstructing objects and symbols (the skull cap, the target, solar and lunar halos) these works explore this enmeshing task of squaring the circle, indirectly transferring its marks, first to an etching plate then onto paper. The outcome of images of light and dark is essentially unknowable, like halos in the sky, floating dots in eyes formed after a long glare at the sun and moon, blank spaces that define a pattern or punctured holes on a target surface. They have pure potential, appearing only when we give them our full concentration. A circle can be squared, and in this process of mediation and discovery, we are all inextricably enmeshed to its centre.
