Inspired by the mechanical designs of Ismail al-Jazari, a 12th century Arab engineer and craftsman, this new series of paper works is an endeavor to enter zones of unvisited historical memory. I came across al-Jazari’s manuscript, The Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices, while doing research on medieval medicinal manuscripts for an installation shown in Cairo at the old hospital of the Mamluk Sultan Qalawun in 2019.
A magician of engineering and design, al-Jazari created a monumental book with around 100 mechanical devices, demonstrating the existence of a significant cultural-engineering and design heritage, perhaps going back to the Hellenistic period. While it is unclear whether al-Jazari’s devices were actually put into practice or not, I believe it is important to highlight how his work provides a wealth of textual instructions for art, design, manufacture, and assembly of mechanical devices. Such devices comprise self-operating timing tools, valves, toothed water wheels, pitchers, and fountains, to mention only a few. I was particularly intrigued by how much dedication al-Jazari imparted in designing his mechanical devices, a creation that he believed would help promote a life of ease and productivity.
In this series, I am taking Ismail al-Jazari’s mechanical devices a step further, creating a variety of imaginary healing devices and textual formulas which negotiate notions of inner healing and repair. In the face of subjective states of constraints and anxiety, the actual making of these devices brings about not only emotional relief, but also a playful and open practice spurred on by the surprises of experimentation.
The textual formulas in this series of works are rendered intentionally indecipherable, hinting to a form of censorship entangled in a context of political and social restrictions. Formally, I opted to work with the medium of painted paper collages as opposed to painting, so as to enhance the sculptural nature of the healing devices. The subtle and layered color schemes of the works invoke palimpsest traces, the rustic silver and gold backgrounds bring to mind thoughts of illumination and a mode of knowledge that might inspire the present.