The Rice Gallery museum will display 'Intersections', a sculptural installation designed by Anila Quayyum Agha until Dec. 6.
It effectively manipulates the gallery space, engages the visitors and provides a window into the mind of the artist. Yet it lacks context, appropriates the best of Moorish art, and ultimately turns a social critique into a mere illustration of exclusion. The design and detail of the piece is incredible, the effect visceral, and despite its contextual shortcomings it deserves to be experienced.
Each side of the laser-cut wooden structure repeats an identical symmetrical pattern. It's suspended by thin wires which provide the illusion of levitation. From the ceiling a lightbulb hangs, dropping down into the center of …show more content…
Agha wanted to translate the feelings of both wonder and exclusion into her installation, but without historical context the installation positions itself as vulnerable, open to both criticism and innumerable interpretations.
The dimensions of the gallery space worked perfectly with this installation. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica the majority of the rooms at Alhambra are “quadrangular, with all rooms opening to a central court.” The Rice Gallery is just that, a cubed room with a vaulted tray ceiling, it opens to a lobby and a courtyard where classrooms and lecture halls stretch in each direction. The architectural significance of both Rice and the Alhambras history provide an additional physicality to a possible historical context of the …show more content…
But how do these shapes and patterns allude to Islamic spaces without the additional reference or context for the viewer? Were there any specific periods or events in the palace history which are significant to Agha’s upbringing in Pakistan?
It doesn't appear to have a substantive context, despite the simple well meaning adoption of an appreciable monument. Ironically during its prime a majority of the interior buildings of the Alhambra palace were likely accessible only to prominent citizens, members of the military, and Moorish monarchs, no different in exclusivity than the mosque of Agha’s childhood.
This exhibition seemingly reveals more about Anilas interpretation than it does about the complexity of her Pakistani culture and community. She is the light and her memories are the box, both isolated and at the center of attention, projecting her childhood impressions of exclusion against anyone who wishes to be seduced by the marvel of Islamic
It effectively manipulates the gallery space, engages the visitors and provides a window into the mind of the artist. Yet it lacks context, appropriates the best of Moorish art, and ultimately turns a social critique into a mere illustration of exclusion. The design and detail of the piece is incredible, the effect visceral, and despite its contextual shortcomings it deserves to be experienced.
Each side of the laser-cut wooden structure repeats an identical symmetrical pattern. It's suspended by thin wires which provide the illusion of levitation. From the ceiling a lightbulb hangs, dropping down into the center of …show more content…
Agha wanted to translate the feelings of both wonder and exclusion into her installation, but without historical context the installation positions itself as vulnerable, open to both criticism and innumerable interpretations.
The dimensions of the gallery space worked perfectly with this installation. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica the majority of the rooms at Alhambra are “quadrangular, with all rooms opening to a central court.” The Rice Gallery is just that, a cubed room with a vaulted tray ceiling, it opens to a lobby and a courtyard where classrooms and lecture halls stretch in each direction. The architectural significance of both Rice and the Alhambras history provide an additional physicality to a possible historical context of the …show more content…
But how do these shapes and patterns allude to Islamic spaces without the additional reference or context for the viewer? Were there any specific periods or events in the palace history which are significant to Agha’s upbringing in Pakistan?
It doesn't appear to have a substantive context, despite the simple well meaning adoption of an appreciable monument. Ironically during its prime a majority of the interior buildings of the Alhambra palace were likely accessible only to prominent citizens, members of the military, and Moorish monarchs, no different in exclusivity than the mosque of Agha’s childhood.
This exhibition seemingly reveals more about Anilas interpretation than it does about the complexity of her Pakistani culture and community. She is the light and her memories are the box, both isolated and at the center of attention, projecting her childhood impressions of exclusion against anyone who wishes to be seduced by the marvel of Islamic