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Abdullah M. I. Syed

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  Flying Rug,  2008 -, Hand-folded US$ bills and staple pins, 51 x 76 cm also 75 x 100 cm, Installation dimensions variable: Mohatta Palace, Karachi, 2010

Flying Rug, 2008 -, Hand-folded US$ bills and staple pins, 51 x 76 cm also 75 x 100 cm, Installation dimensions variable: Mohatta Palace, Karachi, 2010

  Flying Rug,  2008 -, Hand-folded US$ bills and staple pins, 51 x 76 cm also 75 x 100 cm, Installation dimensions variable: IVS Gallery, Karachi, 2008

Flying Rug, 2008 -, Hand-folded US$ bills and staple pins, 51 x 76 cm also 75 x 100 cm, Installation dimensions variable: IVS Gallery, Karachi, 2008

  Flying Rug  - Process

Flying Rug - Process

  Flying Rug , Detail I

Flying Rug, Detail I

  Flying Rug , Detail II

Flying Rug, Detail II

  Flying Rug  (1 US$ bills), Detail III

Flying Rug (1 US$ bills), Detail III

  Flying Rug  (10 US$ bills), Detail IV

Flying Rug (10 US$ bills), Detail IV

  Flying Rug,  2008 -, Hand-folded US$ bills and staple pins, 51 x 76 cm also 75 x 100 cm, Installation dimensions variable: Mohatta Palace, Karachi, 2010      Flying Rug,  2008 -, Hand-folded US$ bills and staple pins, 51 x 76 cm also 75 x 100 cm, Installation dimensions variable: IVS Gallery, Karachi, 2008   Flying Rug  - Process   Flying Rug , Detail I   Flying Rug , Detail II   Flying Rug  (1 US$ bills), Detail III   Flying Rug  (10 US$ bills), Detail IV

Flying Rug (2008 - )

October 22, 2008

The Flying Rug sculpture series is an ongoing investigation of contemporary art within the framework of capital, politics, migration and consumption of power. The US dollar bills are folded into paper planes to form an Islamic geometric pattern rug. Carpets and rugs hold cultural, traditional and religious importance in Islamic societies like Pakistan - famous for its handmade rugs which are major export products. The name, Flying Rug refers to the Arabian tales of magic carpets, and the shadows on the wall suggest an ‘Oriental’ dream. This dream, specifically for many Muslim men in Pakistan and in the Middle East, translates into migration from the East to the West for security, peace and a better financial future. However, the moment the rug reveals itself as a hive of planes in the viewer’s mind, this dream changes into the current reality of the post 9/11 conflicts across the world - anxiety and fear of air travel, asylum seekers, terrorist attacks and Islamophobia. Conversely, the rug also suggests the ‘accidental’ fascination with the East and the American colonisation of the Islamic World. Its poetic materiality uses currency to make autonomous art, while ironically the work affirms the interdependency of art and economy, the commercialisation of art, and culturalisation of economy.

The resulting narratives of Flying Rug are rooted in the ambiguous relationships between fact and fiction, fantasy and reality, placed in the crosshairs of historical and modern-day mythologies. Encoded with such myths and dreams, The Flying Rug installation is a poetic critique of the impact of oriental, colonial and imperial readings of economics and geo-political conflicts on the transnational identities like Syed, a Pakistani born Muslim male living in diaspora.

MEDIA COVERAGE:

  • The New York Times Company: Pakistan's Palette of Blood and Tears
← Decorations (2012)

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