Material and Immaterial

I found this exhibit pretty awesome, and it was a refreshing to look into an art exhibit that had a very different aesthetic than much of Western art. Many times upon walking into an exhibit of famous Renaissance painters, I have been struck by lifelike renditions that capture the human form and perspective and lighting in realistic ways. When I walked into this exhibit, I was impressed instead with the intricacy of the patterned paintings, inscriptions, and texts.

Instead of the overwhelming focus on depictions of figures and landscapes that exists in Western art, Islamic art seems to focus on repetition of patterns and designs. I was interested to learn about the Islamic interpretation of time and how this influences the faith's artwork. Muslims have traditionally espoused a belief in the rotating cycle of time, where religious events rotate throughout the year; the patterns in Islamic artwork, therefore, represent the faith's belief and way of thinking. Patterns and designs interweave and repeat, just as time follows a cyclical pattern. This cyclical view of time leads to Islamic belief in the transience of material things, which view stands in direct contrast to Allah, who is eternal and never-ending. By portraying patterns in their art, Muslims are glorifying the God they believe is as everlasting as the cycle of time.

While God is certainly never portrayed, even human figures are relatively scarce, especially to a Western viewer. Muslim artists, in keeping with their belief that art—and creating art—can glorify God, often forewent signing their pieces. If the purpose of their art was to serve as religious devotion, then why sign it? For the praise of men?

In relating the things I learned in this exhibit with my own creative tendencies, I discovered that while I appreciated the designs in the exhibit, I have rarely given much value to my own designs of a somewhat similar nature. I have long enjoyed drawing, but even though I would sometimes doodle patterns and symbols, I never considered that such material could be serious artwork. I always focused on creatures or spaceships or aliens or something similar. This exhibit was a useful reminder to me that there is a much wider range of legitimate subject matter in the world; even things as originally uninteresting as words can be transformed into stunning works of art that are as valid as any Rembrandt.